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31  L 


SONGS     OF     THE     MORNING. 


HENRIETTA    RAE 


(MRS.    ERNEST    NORMAND) 


BY 

ARTHUR    FISH 


WITH    EIGHT    REPRODUCTIONS    IN    COLOUR 
AND    THIRTY-TWO    OTHER    ILLUSTRATIONS 


MCMV 

CASSELL     and     COMPANY,    Limited 

LONDON,    PARIS,   NEW   YORK  &■  MELBOURNE 

ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


UNIFORM  WITH  THIS  WORK. 


SIR    LAWRENCE 
ALMA-TADEMA, 

O.M..     R.A 

By    PERCY    CROSS    STANDING. 

With  Photogravure  Portrait,  Four  Illus- 
trations in  Colour,  and  numerous  others 
in  Black  and   White. 


CASSELL  &  COMPANY,  Limited,  London, 
Paris,  New  York  and  Melbourne. 


fVD 


17 


H- 


PREFACE. 

In  presenting  this  record  of  Mrs.  Normand's 
work  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  acknow- 
ledge fully  and  unreservedly  the  assistance 
which  Mr.  Ernest  Normand  has  accorded  in 
its  preparation.  Without  his  help  the  book 
could  not  have  been  written,  for  from  him 
alone  could  be  obtained  the  information  which 
it  contains.  With  unfailing  courtesy  and  kindly 
patience  he  has  devoted  many  hours  of  the 
past  summer  to  the  orderly  arraying  of  facts 
and  incidents  in  the  career  of  his  wife ;  to 
the  searching  of  faded  documents  and  letters 
for  the  verification  of  memory  notes,  and,  in- 
deed, to  endless  trouble  to  secure  the  accurate 
presentation   of  this  biography. 

Thanks,  too,  are  due  to  the  owners  of 
pictures  who  have  allowed  their  reproduction 
in   this  book.     There  are   but  few  instances   in 


iv  PREFACE. 

which  the  request  has  met  with  refusal,  or 
conditions  suggested  that  have  been  unaccept- 
able by  the  publishers.  Generally  speaking,  it 
has  been  possible,  by  the  courtesy  of  the 
various  owners,  to  present  a  series  of  illus- 
trations whereby  the  growth  and  development 
of    Mrs.    Normand's    art    can    be    traced    from 

its  beginning. 

A.  F. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY  Q 

CHAPTER    II. 

1859-1878. 

EARLY    LIKE    AND    STUDIES 1 6 

CHAPTER    III. 
1879-1884. 

PRACTICAL  WORK — EARLY    EXHIBITS  AND   COMMISSIONS — 

MARRIAGE 27 


CHAPTER    IV. 

1 885-1 888. 

u  ARIADNE  " — "ELAINE  GUARDLNG  THE  SHIELD  OF 
LANCELOT" — u DOUBTS " — "EURYDICE  SINKING  BACK 
TO  HADES  " — "  A  NAIAD  " — "  ZEPHYRUS  WOOING 
FLORA  " — "  A    REYERIE  " 34 


CHAPTER    V. 
1889-1890. 

il  THE      DEATH     OK     PROCRIS  " — "  SLEEP  " — "  SYLYIA  " — 

"  OPHELIA  " — PARIS 52 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

1890. 

STUDY    IN   PARIS — LIFE   AT   GREZ      . 


PAGE 
6l 


CHAPTER    VII. 
1891-1894. 

"  LA  CIGALE  " — "  THE  LADY  OF  THE  LAMP  " "  MARIANA  " 

"  FLOWERS    PLUCKED    AND    CAST    ASIDE  " REMOVAL 

TO      NORWOOD — "PSYCHE      BEFORE      THE      THRONE 


OF    VENUS 


73 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

1895-1896. 

"  EXHIBITION      AT      DORE      GALLERY  " "  APOLLO      AND 

DAPHNE  " — "  SUMMER  " — VISIT   TO    ITALY 


86 


CHAPTER    IX. 

1897-1905. 

"  ISABELLA  " "  DIANA  AND  CALLISTO  " — "  THE  CHARI- 
TIES OF  SIR  RICHARD  WHITTINGTON  "  (ROYAL 
EXCHANGE  WALL  PAINTING) — "  THE  MARQUESS  OF 
DUFFERIN" — u  SIRENS" "SONGS  OF  THE  MORNING '' 


99 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Songs  of  the  Morning  (Colour)  . 

Henrietta  Rae  (Mrs.  Ernest  Normand) 

M.  le  Cure 

"Through  the  Woods 

Miss  Warman  . 

Lancelot  and  Elaine 

A  Bacchante  . 

Doubts  (Colour) 

Val  Prinsep,  R.A. . 

Eurydice  Sinking  Back  to  Hades 

Zephyrus  Wooing  Flora  (Colour) 

Reverie 

Ophelia  ...... 

Apple  Blossom        .... 

Study  of  Head  in  Chalk     . 

La  Cigale 

Landscape    Study    for   Flowers   Plucked 
and  Cast  Aside   . 

Flowers  Plucked  and  Cast  Aside 

Memories 

Mariana  (Colour) 


F 

rontispiae 

.     To  face 
• 

page 

16 
24 

>» 

28 

19 

30 

• 

32 

• 
• 

34 
38 

. 

40 

• 

44 
48 

50 

• 

54 

•                                . . 

58 

.. 

60 

• 

62 

) 

If 

64 
66 

' 

70 

)» 

72 

viii  LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Psyche  before  the  Throne  of  Venus       .       To  face  page    74 

Pandora »  7° 

Apollo  and  Daphne „  78 

Summer    ..........  „  80 

Roses  of  Youth -  ,,  82 

Her  Eyes  are   Homes   of   Silent  Prayer  ,,  84 

G.  L.  Beeforth,  Esq „  86 

Azaleas  (Colour)      ...                 .  „  88 

Lady  Newton „  90 

The  Studio  at  Norwood      ....  „  92 

The  Charities  of  Sir  Richard  Whittington  „  94 

Mrs.    Normand    Painting    the    Charities 

of  Sir  Richard  Whittington   .         .  ,,  96 

Isabella  (Colour) „  98 

Marquess  of  Dufferin  and  Ava         .        .  ,,  100 

Mrs.  Normand  Painting  the  Portrait  of 

Lord  Dufferin „  102 

Study     for     Sir     Richard     Whittington 

(Colour) „  104 

Sirens >,  106 

Loot         ........  >,  108 

In  Listening  Mood „  no 

Venus  Enthroned  (Colour)    ....  ,.  112 


HENRIETTA  RAE 

(MRS.    ERNEST    NORMAND). 

CHAPTER    I. 
Introductory. 

THE  chronicle  of  events  in  the  life  of 
a  woman  artist  is  in  the  natural  order  of 
things  a  circumscribed  one.  As  a  rule  there 
is  little  exciting,  little  out  of  the  way 
to  record  ;  the  record  is  comprised  of  a  few- 
years  of  study,  a  few  years  of  work  more  or 
less  successful  in  its  results,  a  great  many 
efforts  and  few  achievements  of  note  ;  making 
a  sum  total  of  a  life  of  placidity  tempered 
with  seasons  of  disappointment.  To  compile 
such  a  chronicle  while  the  artist  is  in 
full  vigour  of  life,  with  her  best  ideals  still 
unfulfilled,  but  determinedly  hopeful  of  realisa- 
tion, is  perhaps  a  little  premature.  It  can 
only  be  justified  by  the  fact  that  the  artist 
has  accomplished  work  which  has  been  sub- 
mitted for  judgment  in  the  world's  art  centres 
and  received  with  favour ;  work  which  has 
made    her    name    prominent    among    those    of 


io  HENRIETTA     RAE. 

the  women-painters  of  to-day,  and  marked 
her  career  with  success.  Mrs.  Normand  her- 
self, as  becomes  an  artist,  is,  it  is  needless 
to  say,  dissatisfied  with  her  productions ;  she 
believes  that  her  best  work  is  yet  to  be 
accomplished — was  there  ever  an  artist  who 
did  not  so  long  as  life  remained  ?  The  ideal 
is  ever  in  view,  but  like  the  Fata  Morgana 
it  eludes  the  grasp  just  when  it  appears  to 
be  within  reach.  The  finished  work  is  always 
unsatisfactory :  it  is  that  which  is  not  yet 
begun  that  is  to  be  the  "  masterpiece."  So 
Mrs.  Normand  is  never  sparing  in  self-criticism 
and  self-depreciation ;  as  an  artist  she  is 
without  vanity. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  position 
of  women  in  art  has  only  quite  recently  been 
definitely  assigned,  and  that  even  now  in 
England  official  honours  as  artists  are  denied 
them  because  they  are  women.  While  acknow- 
ledging women  to  be  possessed  of  fine,  even 
acute,  taste  in  art  matters,  of  a  sensitive 
artistic  temperament,  and  great  capabilities  of 
its  expression,  men,  in  their  folly,  have  declined 
to  go  further.  Public  facilities  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  technical  knowledge  and  training  in 
relation  to  art — always  under  the  control  of 
men — have  been  grudgingly  granted  to  women. 
When  a  woman  has  succeeded  as  an  artist  it 
has  been  in  spite  of  the  lack  of  such  facilities, 
and  by  sheer  force  of  will  and  talent.  For 
instance,  when  Mrs.  Normand  gained  entrance 


INTRODUCTORY.  n 

to  the  Royal  Academy  Schools,  women  students 
were  not  allowed  to  draw  from  the  undraped 
model :  a  serious  handicap  in  the  race  for 
artistic  proficiency,  and  an  altogether  illogical 
restriction.  She  and  her  fellow  girl-students 
had  proved  themselves,  by  the  Academy's  own 
test,  suitably  efficient  for  tuition  in  its  classes ; 
but,  with  a  perversity  that  is  beyond  under- 
standing, it  declined  to  give  them  full  advan- 
tage of  the  means  at  its  disposal  for  their 
instruction  and  improvement.  Did  they  wish 
to  acquire  the  indispensable  knowledge  to  be 
gained  only  by  the  study  of  the  model  ?  Then 
they  must  themselves  provide  the  material — 
the  Academy  could,  or  rather  would  not. 

This  and  many  other  anomalies  in  the  art- 
training  of  women  have  now  been  removed, 
and  they  are  given  equal  facilities  with  the 
men  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience. But  the  full  recognition  of  women 
artists  by  the  Royal  Academy  is  still  withheld. 
The  reason  would  be  difficult  to  state.  In  the 
early  days  of  its  existence  women  were  included 
in  the  membership,  and  there  is  nothing  in  its 
instrument  of  foundation  to  debar  others  from 
election,  but  the  honour  is  steadfastly  refused. 
The  prejudice  has  been  challenged  again  and 
again,  and  on  one  occasion  a  woman  missed 
an  associateship  by  one  vote  only.  During  the 
last  thirty  years  several  women  have  been  fully 
worthy  of  election,  but  beyond  accepting  their 
works  for  the  annual    exhibition    the    Academy 


12  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

has  not  recognised  their  claims.  Other  impor- 
tant societies  have  long  since  broken  the 
barriers  which  excluded  women  from  their 
membership,  and  have  thus  fallen  into  line 
with  the  fact  that  woman  is  a  force  in  the  art 
of  to-day. 

It  is,  of  course,  readily  granted  that  women 
are  handicapped  by  nature  against  the  attain- 
ment of  high  distinction  in  the  practice  of  art. 
Those  who  overcame  these  inherent  difficulties 
when  facilities  for  doing  so  were  rare,  or  non- 
existent, were  but  few ;  and  even  in  these  days 
when  with  equal  training  facilities  with  their 
male  competitors  the  numbers  who  pass  the 
preliminary  exercise  are  many,  those  who 
achieve  distinction  are  startlingly  few.  Their 
staying  powers  are  not  to  be  relied  upon  ;  there 
are  so  many  other  considerations  to  claim 
attention  that  art  is — regretfully,  without  doubt 
— relegated  to  a  secondary,  or  even  lower, 
position  in  their  lives.  There  have  been  women 
students  in  the  various  art  schools  who  have 
exhibited  talent  of  extraordinary  power,  who 
when  the  student  days  were  over  have  dis- 
appeared from  the  world  of  art :  the  promise 
has  failed  when  it  has  come  to  the  point  where 
practical  work  commenced.  Some  there  are, 
like  the  late  Rosa  Bonheur,  who  disowning,  or 
at  least  disregarding,  their  sex,  rigorously 
exclude  everything  that  would  stand  between 
them  and  their  art ;  but  it  must  be  confessed 
that   these    are    so    few   that    the  artist    named 


INTRODUCTORY.  13 

stands  alone  as  having  attained  distinction. 
But  on  the  other  hand  there  arc  some  who 
have  been  willing  to  take  all  the  responsibilities 
pertaining  to  them  as  women,  and  in  spite  of 
them  have  asserted  their  skill  as  artists.  The 
fact  has  proved  them  possessed  of  the  artistic 
temperament  in  the  highest  degree ;  a  tempera- 
ment capable  of  overcoming  adverse  circum- 
stances, and  finding  expression  in  works  which 
exhibit  ability  and  force  far  above  the  average 
level  of  merit. 

Such    is    the   position  of  Mrs.    Ernest   Nor- 
mand ;    in    spite    of  her   sex    she    is    an    artist, 
and    a    successful    artist,    too.       Without    any 
special    advantages    in    her    circumstances,    she 
has    achieved    success    in    the    usual    ordinary 
manner  :   by  sheer  persistent   hard  work ;   by  a 
strong,  determined  fight  against  the  disabilities 
and  discouragements   that    hinder  a  woman   in 
the  battle  of  life.     In   this  she   has,  it   is   true, 
been  fortunate  in  her    husband,  for  in  him  she 
has  had  a  ready  helpmeet,   who    has    done    all 
that  was  possible  to  make  the  road  smooth  for 
her ;     who    has    relieved    her    of    all    business 
responsibilities,  and  who  has,  moreover,  worked 
side    by   side  with   her   from   her  student   days. 
This  has  all  meant  much  to  her  in  her  artistic 
career.     This  close  and  harmonious  association 
with    a    fellow    artist,    with     its    intimate    criti- 
cism   and  encouragement,  could    not   be  other- 
wise   than    advantageous.      Each    has    worked 
on     independent     lines,     so     that,    despite     the 


14  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

intimacy,  there  is  no  undue  influence  of  the  one 
apparent  in  the  art  of  the  other.  They  have 
always  worked  together  in  one  studio,  com- 
pared ideas,  discussed  compositions  and  ways 
and  means  of  execution,  yet  their  actual  output 
of  work  has  been  totally  dissimilar. 

To  say  that  Mrs.  Normand  has  not  been  in- 
fluenced at  all  by  her  husband  in  her  art  would 
be  obviously  absurd,  but  the  influence  has  not 
been  solely  and   directly  upon  her  art.     It   has 
rather  been  such   as    is  exercised    by   a   strong 
companion  on    a    physically  weak    person  in  a 
time  of  danger.     The  knowledge  that  her  posi- 
tion was  always  secure   nerved  her  to   venture- 
some effort ;    she  was  encouraged  to    "  try  her 
strength,"  and   did   so,   knowing   that    her  hus- 
band  had    full    belief    in    her   powers — even    if 
she   herself    faltered.     He   was    there   with    his 
criticism,  with  practical  assistance  in  questions 
of  perspective  and  other  abstruse  technicalities, 
and,   withal,    with    his    cheerful    incitement    to 
full  effort.     But  beyond  this  the  influence  was 
not   exercised ;    the   art  of   Henrietta    Rae  and 
that     of     Ernest    Normand    are    distinct    and 
separate ;     each    is    independent    of   the    other 
in    subject,    style,    and    technique.     No    better 
opportunity   to  judge    this    could    be    afforded 
than     in     the     comparison    of    the    two    wall- 
paintings    in    the     Royal    Exchange.      Painted 
in  the  same  studio,  under  the  same  conditions, 
by   two   artists    trained    in    the    same    schools, 
under    the    same    masters,    who    had    worked 


INTRODUCTORY.  i 

together  for  nearly  twenty  years,  yet  there  is 
not  the  slightest  trace  of  similarity  visible 
throughout  the  two  pictures.  It  is  the  more 
curious  in  that  Mrs.  Normand  has  a  pecu- 
liarly sensitive  temperament,  artistically,  which 
several  times  has  proved  itself  amenable  to 
outside  influences.  But  even  then  her  artistic 
individuality  soon  reasserted  its  authority, 
and,  generally  speaking,  her  pictures  betray  no 
marked  impression  of  extraneous  influence. 

The  work  already  accomplished  by  Mrs. 
Normand  affords  sufficient  evidence  that  her 
life  has  been  a  strenuous  one  :  each  year  has 
witnessed  some  addition  to  the  list  of  her  pic- 
tures. Success  has  reduced  the  strain  of  neces- 
sitous and  continuous  work,  and  leisure  is 
afforded  for  more  thoughtful  choice  of  subject 
and  its  application.  So  that  it  may  be  taken 
that  this  record  is  but  preliminary.  There  is 
to  be  a  residence  in  Italy,  and  doubtless  there 
will  be  renewed  and  invigorated  effort  in 
response  to  the  influence  of  classic  scenes  and 
atmosphere. 


i6 


CHAPTER    II. 

1859-1878. 
Early  Life  and  Studies. 

HENRIETTA  RAE  was  born  at  Hammer- 
smith in  1859,  but  her  first  recollections 
are  centred  at  Holloway,  where  her  child- 
hood was  passed.  Her  father,  a  kindly,  in- 
dulgent man  with  his  three  sons  and  four 
daughters  (of  whom  Henrietta  was  the 
youngest),  held  an  appointment  in  the  Civil 
Service  ;  her  mother,  a  musical  artist  of  great 
ability,  was  at  one  time  a  pupil  of  Mendels- 
sohn. Mr.  Rae  appears  to  have  done  his 
best  to  impress  his  children  that  life  was, 
after  all,  not  a  very  serious  matter,  and  was,  in 
return,  loved  devotedly  by  them.  As  honorary 
secretary  of  the  Whittington  Club,  a  Bohemian 
society  of  literary  and  dramatic  gentlemen  which 
met  in  Arundel  Street,  he  was  acquainted  with 
many  of  the  leading  members  of  these  two  pro- 
fessions, among  whom  were  Thackeray,  Dickens, 
Mark  Lemon,  Dion  Boucicault,  and  many 
others  who  have  since  become  famous  in  the 
world  of  letters  and  histrionic  art.  In  connec- 
tion with  this  club  an  interesting  letter  from 
Thackeray  to  Mr.  Thomas  Burbey  Rae  was 
published  in  the  English  Illustrated  Magazine  for 


HENRIETTA     RAE 
(Mrs.    Ernest    Normand. 

from   a   Photograph   by   Hate   Pragncll,    Brompton   Square. 


EARLY    LIFE    AND    STUDIE  17 

November,  1904,  from  which  it  would  appear 
that  Thackeray  was  treasurer  to  the  club  and 
had  to  advance  money  for  its  liabilities  : — 

1  3,  Young  Street,  K  '.on, 

July    i*. 

My  Dear  Sir, 

Times  have  been  bad  with  me,  and  I  have- 
not  been  able  until  now  to  spare  the  sum  necessary  for 
the  gas  company  and  Major  Smyth.  I  have  now  £%o  at 
your  orders,  for  which  I  send  a  cheque. 

Will  you  kindly  acknowledge  it,  and  send  me 
the  receipt  of  the  Gas  Company  ? 

Very  Faithfully  Yours,  Dear  Sir, 
To  T.  B.  Rae,  Esq.  W.  M.  Thackeray. 

There  was  connected  with  the  club  an 
amateur  theatrical  section  that  was  famous  in 
its  day,  and  the  honorary  secretary  himself  had 
strong  inclinations  dramatically,  for  among  Mrs. 
Normand's  earlier  recollections  are  theatrical 
evenings  at  home  in  which  William  Terriss  and 
W.  S.  Penley  were  prominent  participants. 
Recollections  of  fun,  merriment  and  music,  in 
which  she,  as  the  youngest  child,  took  no  more 
active  part  than   that  of  listener. 

Mrs.  Rae,  herself,  undertook  the  develop- 
ment of  such  musical  tastes  as  the  children 
possessed,  but  for  some  reason — possibly  the 
inaptitude  of  the  pupil — the  musical  education 
of  Henrietta  was  of  a  very  desultory  nature. 
There  was  no  severe  grounding  in  the  theory 
and  practice  of  music  such  as  had  been  given 
to   the    elder   sisters,    but    chief  attention    was 

B 


1 8  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

devoted  to  the  development  and  training  of 
her  voice  for  concert  use.  It  was,  indeed, 
her  mother's  intention  that  she  should 
become  a  professional  singer,  it  being  neces- 
sary that  a  means  of  livelihood  and  self- 
support  should  be  provided.  The  limited  in- 
come of  the  head  of  the  family,  and  the  increas- 
ing demands  of  the  growing  family,  precluded 
the  possibility  of  the  formation  of  a  reserve  fund 
of  any  extent,  and  it  was  foreordained  that  the 
girls  as  well  as  the  boys  would  have  to  be  self- 
supporting. 

Henrietta  was  not  thought  to  be  possessed 
of  any  special  ability,  and  beyond  the  singing 
lessons,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  her 
education  was,  in  a  general  sense,  irregular  and 
desultory  in  character.  One  of  her  elder  sisters 
was  considered  to  have  artistic  tastes  and 
proclivities,  and  was  provided  with  drawing 
materials  by  an  uncle,  Mr.  Charles  Rae,  who 
had  been  one  of  Cruikshank's  pupils  and  worked 
in  his  master's  manner.  The  child  found 
interest  in  her  sister's  exercises,  and  through 
her,  vicariously,  her  artistic  cravings  found  ex- 
pression until  such  time  as  she  could  herself 
use  a  pencil.  But  there  is  no  precocious  display 
of  talent  to  record,  or  even  extraordinary  skill 
in  her  childish  attempts  at  drawing.  Nothing, 
in  fact,  to  suggest  the  desirability  of  regular 
training.  So  the  time  went  on  until  she  was 
nearly  thirteen  years  of  age,  when  the  musical 
career  planned  by  her  mother  seemed  to  be  her 


EARLY   LIFE    AND    STUDIES.  19 

prospective  destination.  She  received  her  pre- 
liminary engagement  as  a  professional  singer, 
and  earned  two  guineas  by  singing  at  a  concert 
11  Meet  me  by  moonlight  alone  "  and  "  Sigh 
no  more,  Ladies."  But  her  thoughts  were  all 
for  art :  her  efforts  to  draw  were  incessant,  and 
absorbed  every  moment  of  liberty.  Some,  by 
chance,  attracted  the  attention  of  her  artist- 
uncle,  who  at  once  desired  to  see  more,  and 
found  in  them  sufficient  promise  to  justify  a 
recommendation  to  an  art  training.  Her  father 
at  once  agreed  to  accept  the  recommendation, 
and  Henrietta  was  entered  as  a  pupil  of  the 
Queen  Square  School — now  the  Royal  Female 
School  of  Art.  Hand  in  hand  with  her  father, 
whose  habit  it  was  to  walk  each  day  to 
his  office  in  Bedford  Row,  she  went  from 
Holloway  to  Bloomsbury  to  her  lessons.  At 
the  school  she  obtained  her  first  experience  in 
regularity  and  discipline,  and  doubtless  it  was 
all  exceedingly  dull  and  unpleasant. 

Art  training  in  those  days  was  a  most  serious 
and  depressing  business,  especially  to  a  young, 
vivacious  pupil.  A  rigorously  enjoined  course 
of  freehand  drawing  (so-called)  was  in  itself 
sufficient  to  cure  an  ordinary  craving  for  the 
artistic  life,  and  the  irresponsible  spirit  of 
Henrietta  Rae  rebelled  against  its  deadly  dull 
routine.  This  was  but  the  very  "  dry  bones  " 
of  art ;  she  was  longing  for  something  more 
attractive  and  inviting.  When  opportunity 
afforded   the  arid  wastes  of  freehand  would   be 


20  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

deserted  for  the  more  desirable  oasis  of  the 
life-class,  but  the  order  to  return  to  the  drudgery 
was  always  peremptory  and  immediate. 

Two  years  were  thus  passed  without  any  dis- 
tinct advance  being  made.  The  young  student 
wanted  to  get  to  business  with  paint,  brush, 
and  palette,  but  the  only  opportunity  afforded 
her  to  indulge  her  fancy  was  during  the  vacation. 
Then  free  rein  was  given  to  her  desire  ;  with 
brown  paper  in  lieu  of  canvas  and  old  colour- 
tubes  from  her  uncle's  paint-box  she  painted 
everything  that  her  imagination  suggested,  or, 
at  least,  endeavoured  to  do  so.  The  efforts 
delighted  her  father,  who  discovered  in  them 
evidences  of  genius  of  no  ordinary  variety.  The 
crude  attempts  of  the  child  to  express  herself 
in  colour  were  magnified  by  parental  admiration 
into  masterpieces  of  art.  They  were  exhibited 
for  the  edification  of  friends  and  callers,  who,  it 
must  be  recorded,  were  not  impressed  by  them 
to  the  same  extent  as  the  proud  father.  But 
the  time  spent  on  these  early  efforts  was  not 
wasted ;  the  experience  gained  in  the  use  of 
colour,  in  the  drawing  from  nature,  even  if  the 
results  were  not  altogether  satisfactory,  was  all 
useful.  It  opened  to  the  young  student's  eyes 
the  possibilities  that  were  before  her,  and  in- 
creased her  desire  to  extend  her  knowledge  by 
other  means  than  those  afforded  by  the  School 
of  Art. 

The  outcome  of  it  was  the  determination 
to    join    the     ranks     of    the     free-lances    who 


EARLY    LIFE    AND    STUDIE  zi 

studied    art    in    the    Antique    Galleries    of     the 

British  Museum,  and  in  1874  this  was  done 
"Life  went  very  well  then";  the  morning 
walk  with  her  father  was  extended  to  the 
Museum  gates,  and  the  day  was  passed  in  the 
company  of  kindred  spirits  amid  the  glorious 
fragments  of  classic  art.  The  galleries  were 
crowded  with  students  of  both  sexes,  who 
vied  with  each  other  in  rendering  in  black 
and  white  the  glories  of  the  Elgin  marbles. 
Work  was  interspersed  with  talk ;  there  was 
much  interchange  of  criticism,  of  thoughts  not 
always  immediately  connected  with  the  work 
of  the  moment ;  flirtations  alternated  with  spas- 
modic attacks  of  serious  drawing.  There  were 
difficulties  of  foreshortening  that  could  only  be 
surmounted  by  the  aid  of  a  more  skilful 
student,  and  plans,  and  hopes,  and  fears 
for  the  future  to  be  discussed  and  advised 
upon.  It  was  under  these  circumstances  that 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  first  met,  and  com- 
menced   the    friendship    which     culminated    in 


marriage. 

O 


The  immediate  goal  of  these  Museum 
students  was  the  Royal  Academy  School,  and 
all  their  efforts  were  centred  upon  the  necessary 
qualification  of  proficiency  in  drawing.  It 
could  only  be  acquired  by  diligent  and  unceas- 
ing labour,  and  the  environments  were  not  al- 
together  conducive  to  that.  Miss  Rae,  in  any 
case,  found  it  difficult  to  bring  her  mind  to 
it ;  but    in    spite    of   dilatoriness  and    intermit- 


22  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

tent  industry  her  natural  facility  enabled  her 
to  make  a  good  show,  sufficient  to  win  the 
esteem  of  her  fellow  students  as  of  one  above 
their  average.  The  earnest  desire  to  become 
an  artist,  which  really  existed  despite  the 
apparent  lack  of  interest,  again  prompted  her 
to  adopt  further  methods  of  advancement,  and 
the  study  at  the  Museum  was  supplemented 
by  attendance  at  the  evening  classes  at 
Heatherley's  School  of  Art  in  Newman  Street, 
in  which  she  was  the  first  woman  pupil. 

"Heatherley's"  was  the  leading  School  of 
Art  of  the  day,  and  was  the  recognised  recruit- 
ing ground  for  the  Royal  Academy  Schools.  It 
carried  on  the  traditions  of  Leigh's,  of  which 
it  was  the  direct  successor,  and  among  its 
pupils  may  be  counted  many  of  the  most 
prominent  artists  of  our  time.  Mr.  Heatherley 
— who,  at  the  time  of  writing,  is  still  living — 
seems  to  have  been  as  distinct  a  personality 
in  his  school  as  was  Mr.  Sass,  that  other 
celebrated  art  master,  of  whom  Mr.  Frith  has 
recorded  so  much  in  his  "  Reminiscences." 
On  one  occasion  a  student  who  was  to  carry 
home  a  canvas  was  much  concerned  that  he 
could  not  cover  it  sufficiently  to  hide  it  from 
the  eyes  of  the  public :  he  "  did  not  want 
everyone  to  know  he  was  an  artist."  "  Carry 
it  with  the  painted  side  outwards  and  no  one 
will  make  that  mistake,"  was  the  master's  retort. 
Once  there  was  extra  noise  from  the  students 
on  the  staircase,  and   Heatherley,  coming  from 


EARLY   LIFE    AND    STUDIES.  23 

his  room,  asked  them   "  to  be  kind  enough   not 
to  bray  so  loudly." 

Among  those  who  were  contemporary  with 
Mrs.  Normand  at  Heatherley's  were  Messrs.  S.  J. 
Solomon,  A.R.A.,  Blair  Leighton,  T.  C.  Gotch, 
Claude  Hayes,  and  H.  M.  and  Sidney  Paget. 

At  this  time  then  our  student  had  settled 
down  to  a  course  of  steady  hard  work — in  the 
daytime  at  the  British  Museum,  in  the  evenin 
at  Heatherley's.  She  fully  realised  that  it 
was  necessary,  for  her  art  was  to  be  no  mere 
"  accomplishment "  but  a  means  whereby  she 
was  to  live ;  she  was  to  be  a  professional 
artist,  not  a  dilettante  amateur  with  Art 
as  a  recreation.  Her  first  effort  then  was 
directed  towards  securing  entry  into  the 
Royal  Academy  Schools,  with  its  course  of 
free  tuition  and  study.  The  conditions  under 
which  students  were  admitted  as  probationers 
were  less  difficult  in  those  days  than  they  are 
at  present,  for  with  the  greatly  increased 
number  of  applicants  the  terms  of  the  com- 
petitive test  have  become  considerably  more 
severe.  Students  of  painting  were  then  re- 
quired to  send  with  their  application  papers 
"  as  a  specimen  of  ability  a  finished  drawing 
in  chalk,  about  two  feet  high,  of  an  undraped 
antique  statue;  or  if  of  the  'Theseus'  or  of 
the  'Ilyssus'  (the  only  mutilated  figures  ad- 
missible) it  must  be  accompanied  by  drawings 
of  a  head,  hand,  and  foot." 

If  this  drawing   was    approved    the    student 


24  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

was  admitted  to  a  three  months'  probationer- 
ship,  in  which  time  another  set  of  drawings 
was  to  be  completed.  This  set  comprised 
another  finished  drawing  from  an  undraped 
antique  statue,  and  outline  drawings  of  the 
same  figure  anatomised,  showing  the  bones 
and  muscles  with  references  to  each  particular 
anatomical  point.  If  these  drawings,  with  the 
first  one  submitted,  were  considered  satisfactory 
by  the  Council,  the  probationer  was  duly  ad- 
mitted as  a  student  for  a  period  of  seven  years. 

It  was  not  until  1877,  after  five  unsuccess- 
ful attempts,  that  Henrietta  Rae  gained  the 
coveted  goal.  The  failures  were  not  altogether 
due  to  inability  to  pass  the  test,  for  on  one 
occasion  her  name  appeared  on  the  list  of 
those  accepted  as  students,  and  then  it  was 
found  that  the  number  of  vacancies  was  ex- 
ceeded by  one,  and  her  name  was  struck  off. 
At  the  fifth  trial  she  was  excluded  from  the 
final  competition.  The  old  dilatoriness  had  re- 
asserted itself;  drawing  from  the  antique  had 
probably  becoming  irksome,  and  its  monotony 
was  varied  by  the  young  girl  student  with 
exercises  in  caricature,  with  the  curator  as  a 
subject.  At  the  next  attempt,  six  months 
later,  admission  was  obtained,  and  the  seven 
years'  studentship  entered  upon. 

They  were  halcyon  days,  full  of  the  joy 
of  life  ;  a  time  of  good  feeling  and  companion- 
ship, and,  above  all,  of  hard  work.  There  was 
a  brilliant   band  of   students    at  the  Academy, 


M.     LE     CURE. 

A   Royal  Academy   School  Study. 


EARLY'   LIFE    AND    STUDIES.  25 

and  competition  must  have  been  keen.  Among 
others  were  Margaret  Dicksee,  Alfred  Gilbert, 
Arthur  Hacker,  Solomon  J.  Solomon,  H.  11. 
La  Thangue,  Stanhope  Forbes,  A.  S.  Cope, 
Melton  Fisher,  and  Ernest  Normand,  all  of 
whom,  with  two  exceptions,  had  entered  the 
schools  with  no  other  preliminary  training  than 
that  gained  in  the  galleries  of  the  British 
Museum.  With  such  competitors  there  can 
hardly  be  cause  for  surprise  that  none  of  the 
medals  or  scholarships  fell  to  the  lot  of  Henrietta 
Rae.  Among  the  students  themselves  she  was 
always  first  favourite ;  her  facility  won  their 
admiration  and  confidence,  of  which  they  were 
always  ready  to  assure  her.  Repeated  disap- 
pointments failed  to  shake  their  belief  in  her 
ability,  but  their  confidence  continued  mis- 
placed. At  the  critical  moment  she  always 
failed.  In  spite  of  this  her  popularity  with  the 
students  remained  ;  when  she  was  late  at  the 
life  class  positions  already  taken  were  willingly 
sacrificed  to  her  belated  choice  ;  her  studies  were 
eagerly  bought  by  them — not  at  princely  prices 
certainly,  but  the  fact  that  they  were  bought 
at  all  exhibited  a  high  degree  of  appreciation. 
There  were,  too,  at  this  time,  indigencies 
in  the  way  of  little  studies  on  her  own  account, 
portraits  of  children,  which  brought  in  small 
but  welcome  amounts  to  her  exchequer. 
Money  was  wanted  to  keep  matters  goin^, 
and  as  soon  as  proficiency  was  gained  it  was 
put  to  service.     Studies  executed  in  the  schools 


26  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

were  disposed  of  through  Stannard,  the  frame 
maker,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  prove 
that  she  was  attaining  practical  success. 

To  supply  the  deficiency  of  the  Academy 
School  in  respect  to  women  students  and  the 
study  from  the  undraped  model,  a  proposal 
was  made  by  Miss  Margaret  Dicksee  to  her 
fellow  students  that  they  should  form  a  life 
class  of  their  own  on  co-operative  principles. 
The  proposal  was  enthusiastically  received, 
and  the  class  instituted  in  Mr.  Dicksee's 
studio  in  Fitzroy  Square.  The  attendances 
were  made  in  the  evening  after  the  day's  work 
at  the  Academy. 

Among  the  visitors  to  the  schools  at  this 
time  were  Professor  von  Herkomer,  Sir  L.  Alma- 
Tadema,  Mr.  Frank  Dicksee,  and  Mr.  W.  P. 
Frith,  and  of  these  Sir  Alma-Tadema  chiefly 
influenced  Miss  Rae.  At  one  time,  indeed,  she 
passed  through  a  "  Tadema  phase,"  from  which 
arose  an  interesting  incident.  On  one  of  the 
occasions  of  that  artist's  "  visitorship "  he 
posed  the  model  in  the  attitude  of  one  of  the 
figures  in  his  picture  "  Sappho,"  and  Miss  Rae's 
study  attracted  his  attention.  Taking  her  brush 
he  commenced  to  work  on  her  canvas,  and  after 
a  short  time  it  assumed  the  appearance  of 
one  of  his  original  works.  The  pupil  was 
delighted  at  the  prospect  afforded  by  such  a 
possession,  a  delight  that  was  cut  short  by  the 
artist  saying,  "There,  that's  what  I  wanted  to 
show  you," — and  wiping  out  all  his  work. 


-7 


CHAPTER    III. 

1879-1884. 

Practical  Work  :  Early  Exhibits  and 
Commissions  :  Marriage. 

IN  the  second  year  of  her  studentship  at  the 
Academy  Schools  Miss  Rae  ventured  to  send 
to  the  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists  a  small 
landscape  for  the  Spring  exhibition,  which  was 
duly  accepted.  The  catalogue  entry  of  this, 
her  first  exhibited  work,  stands  " '  Sketch  near 
Lee,'  £3.  3.  o."  At  the  following  winter  ex- 
hibition of  the  same  society  she  was  repre- 
sented by  two  landscapes :  "  A  Glimpse  of 
Sunshine,"  and  "  The  way  is  dark  and  cold 
and  drear."  At  the  Dudley  Gallery  Exhibi- 
tion of  the  same  period — the  winter  of  1879-80 
— her  first  figure  subject,  a  portrait  study  of 
herself  in  Empire  costume,  was  shown  under 
the  title  of  "  La  fille  de  l'Ancienne  Noblesse." 
In  1880  the  name  of  Henrietta  Rae  ap- 
peared for  the  first  time  in  the  Royal  Academy 
Catalogue,  in  connection  with  a  figure  entitled 
"  Chloe,"  which,  again,  was  a  portrait  study  of 
herself.  Work  at  the  schools  was  varied  with 
landscape  study  from  nature  during  the 
ensuing   summer,  and  the   principal   result    was 


28  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

an  oil  study,  "  Through  the  Woods "  (a 
reminiscence  of  the  Redlands,  Coldharbour), 
which  appeared  at  the  winter  exhibition  at 
Suffolk  Street  of  1 880-1.  It  is  of  interest  that 
the  catalogue  price  of  this  work  is  £j  7  o — 
more  than  double  that  of  her  first  exhibit  of 
two  years  previous. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Ernest  Normand  and 
Miss  Henrietta  Rae  had  determined  to  link 
their  fortunes  together,  and  the  engagement 
was  duly  announced  and  ratified.  Marriage 
was  an  event  connected  with  "  the  dim  and 
distant  future,"  and  the  meantime  was  to  be 
occupied  by  each  with  hard  work  and 
strenuous  study  for  the  provision  of  current 
necessities.  A  friendship  with  John  Steeple, 
the  water-colour  painter — who  took  a  practical 
interest  in  the  young  couple — led  to  several 
introductions  whereby  grist  was  brought  to  their 
mill.  Principal  among  these  was  that  to  Mr. 
Samuel  Thacker,  who  purchased  several  of 
Miss  Rae's  school  studies,  and  in  1881  com- 
missioned her  to  paint  portraits  of  his  two 
children.  In  that  year  she  was  represented 
at  the  British  Artists'  Spring  exhibition  by 
two  head  studies,  which  were  catalogued  "A 
Study  from  Life  "  and  "  A  Bavarian  Peasant 
Girl,"  and  one  of  these  brought  her  first  out- 
side commission.  A  Leicester  clergyman's 
attention  was  attracted  by  the  style  and 
handling,  and  he  wrote  to  her — although  he 
addressed    his    letter   to    "  H.   Rae,    Esq." — ex- 


THROUGH     THE     WOODS. 
Charcoal  Drawing. 


EARLY   EXHIBITS    AND    COMMISSIONS.     29 

pressing  his  appreciation,  and  his  desire  for  a 
portrait  of  himself  by  the  same  artist.  Mrs. 
Normand  relates  the  subsequent  story 
follows  :  "  As  I  then  had  no  studio  I  made  an 
appointment  to  see  him  in  the  corridor  of  the 
Academy  Schools.  I  can  see  his  surprised 
look  now  as  a  girl  student  came  tripping 
along,  with  heels  clattering  on  the  stone  pave- 
ment, bearing  his  visiting  card.  '  I  want  to 
see  Mr.  Rae,'  he  began.  '  There  is  no  one 
else  here  of  the  name  of  Rae,'  I  replied. 
1  But  H.  Rae,  whose  head  study  I  have  seen 
at  the  Society  of  British  Artists,'  he  urged ; 
and  he  was  quite  put  out  when  I  explained 
that  it  was  my  signature." 

The  matter  was,  however,  definitely  arranged 
and  the  commission  duly  given.  The  difficultv 
connected  with  the  want  of  a  studio  was 
surmounted  by  Mr.  Normand  becoming  the 
responsible  tenant  for  one  situate  at  5, 
Fitzroy  Square,  next  to  that  of  Mr.  Dicksee. 
Here  the  sittings  for  the  portrait  were  given 
and  the  work  finished  early  in   1882. 

In  1881  there  are  other  exhibits  to  be 
noted.  At  the  Royal  Academy  there  was  a 
portrait  of  Miss  Warman,  and  at  the  Black 
and  White  Exhibition  at  the  Dudley  Gallery 
a  charcoal  study  of  the  British  Artists'  land- 
scape of  the  previous  winter,  and  another 
entitled  "Still  Waters."  The  first  of  these 
drawings  s  here  reproduced,  and  the  illustration, 
though   greatly  reduced,  will  serve  to  show  the 


3o  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

feeling  of  the  artist  at  this  time  for  landscape. 
The  colour-studies  which  she — or  her  husband — 
have  managed  to  retain  prove,  indeed,  that  she 
possessed  all  the  ability  for  the  making  of  a 
successful  landscape  painter.  Her  inclinations, 
too,  tended  in  that  direction,  but  necessity- 
knows  no  law  and  makes  no  concessions  to 
preference.  Money  had  to  be  earned,  and 
portrait  painting  pointed  to  a  possible  means 
to  that  end.  The  reproductions  of  the  portrait 
of  Miss  Warman,  and  of  an  Academy  School 
study,  "  M.  le  Cure,"  executed  about  this  time, 
will  show  the  style  of  the  painter  and  how 
exactly  opposite  it  is  to  that  of  her  work  of 
to-day.  In  the  latter  there  is  minute,  almost  pre- 
Raphaelite  handling  in  the  brush-work,  with  a 
subdued  scheme  of  colour :  the  careful,  laboured 
work  of  a  young  student  gradually  feeling  her 
way  to  an  individualist  means  of  expression. 

The  winter  exhibition  at  Suffolk  Street  of 
1881-2  contained  two  studies,  "  The  Time  of 
Roses  "  and  "  A  Day's  Sketching,"  which  were 
sent  from  the  Fitzroy  Square  studio,  and  which 
were  her  last  contributions  to  that  gallery. 
Eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-two  was  a  busy 
year.  In  addition  to  the  portrait  of  the 
Rev.  W.  Beardmore  (of  Leicester),  already  re- 
ferred to,  there  were  five  other  portraits  executed, 
one  of  which,  "  Ernest  Normand,  Esq.,"  repre- 
sented her  work  at  the  Royal  Academy.  The 
others  were  a  three-quarter  length  of  Mrs.  S. 
Thacker,  two  of  Mr.  George  Barten  Normand, 


MISS     WARMAN. 

By   Permission  of   T.    IV  itt   Cafe,    Esq. 


EARLY   EXHIBITS   AND    COMMISSIONS.     31 

her  future  father-in-law,  and  one  of  Mr.  W.  A. 
Surridge. 

In  1883  further  progress  was  made,  for 
Henrietta  Rae's  name  appears  twiee  in  the 
Royal  Academy  Catalogue  with  "  Miriam  " — a 
school  study — and  a  portrait  of  Miss  Lilian 
Woodcock,  a  commission  brought  about  by 
the  further  good  offices  of  John  Steeple,  who 
had  introduced  the  young  artist  to  his  dealer, 
Mr.  Woodcock.  To  this  gentleman  went  also 
her  first  subject  picture  "  Love's  Young  Dream," 
which  was  painted  in  this  year.  Mr.  Steeple 
himself  showed  a  practical  interest  in  her 
welfare  by  purchasing  the  "  Sappho  "  study 
and  others  executed  in  the  schools  and  by 
giving  her  a  commission  to  paint  his  wife's 
portrait.  These  works  were  dispersed  at  the 
sale  of  Mr.  Steeple's  belongings  after  his  death, 
and  all  trace  of  them  has  unfortunately  been 
lost.  The  study  of  "  Miriam  "  was  purchased 
in  the  Academy  by  C.  Sharland,  Esq.,  and 
another,  "  Passion  Flowers,"  was  also  acquired 
by  that  gentleman  in  this  year.  A  charcoal 
landscape  study,  which  was  exhibited  at  the 
Mendoza  Gallery,  was  also  sold,  the  purchaser 
being  Mr.  G.  P.  Baker. 

The  following  year  was  an  eventful  one  in 
the  life  of  Mrs.  Normand;  the  success  of  1883 
was  followed  by  the  acceptance  for  the  Academy 
Exhibition  of  the  most  important  figure  picture 
she  had  yet  painted — "  Lancelot  and  Elaine." 
Elaborate  pains  were   taken   to   secure   a  good 


32  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

result.  The  dress  of  Lancelot  was  designed 
and  worked  out  by  the  artist  and  careful  studies 
made  in  the  grounds  of  the  Crystal  Palace  for 
the  background  of  foliage.  The  picture,  of 
course,  illustrates  the  story  as  given  by  Tenny- 
son in  his  "  Idylls  of  the  King,"  and  is  based 
on  the  following  passage  : — 

"     .     .     .     .     one  morn  it  chanced 
He  found  her  in  among  the  garden  yews, 
And  said  '  Delay  no  longer,  speak  your  wish, 
Seeing  I  go  to-day  ; '  then  out  she  brake  : 

'  Going  ?  and  we  shall  never  see  you  more, 
And  I  must  die  for  want  of  one  bold  word.' 
'  Speak  ;  that  I  live  to  hear,'  he  said,  '  is  yours.' 
Then  suddenly  and  passionately  she  spoke  : 

'  I  have  gone  mad.     I  love  you  ;  let  me  die  ! ' 

'  Ah,  sister,'  answer'd  Lancelot,  '  what  is  this  ?  ' 

And  innocently  extending  her  white  arms, 

'  Your  love,'  she  said,  '  your  love — to  be  your  wife.'  " 

As  may  be  seen  from  the  reproduction  of 
the  picture  it  is  an  ambitious  effort  for  a 
young  artist,  and  if  she  has  caught  the  pose 
of  the  models  and  overlooked  the  passion  that 
surged  through  the  originals  of  the  characters 
they  were  representing,  this  and  much  else 
must  be  forgiven.  The  great  thing  for  her 
was  that  the  picture  was  hung — and  fairly  well 
hung — in  the  Academy  Exhibition.  The  crown- 
ing success  of  its  sale  did  not,  unfortunately, 
follow,  and  it  now  serves  as  a  record  of  a 
style  which  the  artist  never  indulged  in  before 


LANCELOT     AND     ELAINE. 


EARLY  EXHIBITS   AXD    COMMISSIONS.    33 

or  since.  "The  artist-colourman's  friend"  is 
the  fitting  name  that  has  been  bestowed  upon 
it  from  the  amount  of  paint  used  in  its 
execution. 

Other  work  of  this  year  was  a  replica  of 
11  Love's  Young  Dream,"  which  was  made  for 
Mr.  Steeple,  and  portraits  of  John  Steeple 
and  George  Underbay,   Esq. 

But  the  most  important  event  of  1884  was 
her  marriage  with  Mr.  Ernest  Normand,  who 
had  been  fortunate  enough  to  sell  his  Academy 
picture — "  A  Palace,  yet  a  Prison  " — for  the 
respectable  sum  of  three  hundred  guineas. 
The  opportunity  was  too  good  to  be  neglected, 
and  a  wedding  with  a  honeymoon  trip  to  Paris 
was  the  immediate  outcome. 


34 


CHAPTER    IV. 

1885-1888. 

"Ariadne";  "Elaine  Guarding  the  Shield 
of  Lancelot  "  ;  "  Doubts  "  ;  "  Eurydice 
Sinking  Back  to  Hades  "  ;  "A  Naiad  "  ; 
"Zephyrus  Wooing  Flora";  "A  Reverie." 

ON  the  return  to  London  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Normand  settled  down  in  a  studio  in 
Wright's  Lane,  Kensington.  Life  was  now  a 
very  serious  matter  to  them,  and  hard  work 
was  to  be  the  order  of  the  day  for  both,  for  it 
was  agreed  between  them  that  theirs  was  to 
be  a  working  partnership.  The  long  and  close 
association  of  the  student  days  had  given  each 
a  confident  belief  in  the  ability  of  the  other; 
and  each  now  determined  that  the  belief  should 
be  justified.  No  time  was  lost,  therefore,  and 
the  canvases  for  their  next  Academy  pictures 
were  prepared  and  subjects  discussed  and 
planned. 

Mrs.  Normand  determined  to  give  expres- 
sion to  a  long -entertained  love  for  classic 
legends  and  characters.  The  desultory  reading 
of  her  childhood  had  included  Pope's  and 
Lempriere's  translations  of  the  wonderful  myths 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  the  spell  had  fallen 


A     BACCHANTE. 


"ARIADNE?  35 

heavily  upon  her.  Its  fascination  had  remained 
with  her  through  the  student  days  ;  had  indeed 
been  strengthened  by  the  intimate  study  of  the 
beauties  of  Greek  sculpture  at  the  British 
Museum.  Now  that  opportunity  served,  the 
desire  to  paint  a  classic  subject  could  not  be 
denied ;  the  plaintive  story  of  Ariadne  was 
chosen  for  this  first  effort,  and  her  desertion 
at  Naxos  by  Theseus  for  special  treatment. 
In  addition  to  this  picture  there  was  also  put 
in  hand  a  life-size  nude  figure  of  "  A  Bacchante," 
which  was  to  accompany  it  to  the  judgment 
seat  of  the  Academy. 

Only  a  few  months  were  spent  in  the  Wright 
Lane  studio,  for  the  Normands  then  took  a 
house  in  Holland  Park  Road,  next  door  to 
Val  Prinsep's  and  next  but  one  to  Leighton's. 
Here  the  two  pictures  were  finished  and  duly 
sent  to  Burlington  House.  Both  were  accepted, 
and  the  "  Ariadne "  was  well  hung  on  the 
low  line  in  the  first  room.  Ariadne  is  repre- 
sented seated  on  the  sea  shore,  with  arms  ex- 
tended in  front  of  her  on  the  rock,  the  right 
hand  over  the  left  and  clutching  it  convulsively ; 
the  whole  attitude  expressive  of  grief  at  the 
departure  of  her  lover,  and  of  desire  for  his 
presence.  The  full  rounded  figure  of  the  young 
girl  shows  clear  and  bright  through  a  transparent 
gossamer  veil.  The  bid  for  success  was  a  bold 
one ;  for  a  woman  painter  to  submit  two  studies 
from  the  nude — for  "  Ariadne  "  was  practically 
such — and  have  them  accepted  was  quite  out  of 


36  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

the  usual,  but  the  success  justified  the  attempt. 
"  Ariadne  "  was  purchased  in  the  Exhibition  by 
Mr.  Pochin,  and  the  copyright  secured  by  the 
Berlin  Photographic  Co. 

There  is  no  question  that  Mrs.  Normand's 
love  of  flesh  painting,  with  its  charm  and  delicacy 
of  colour,  and  its  demand  for  tender  treatment, 
influenced  her  as  much  as  the  classic  legends 
in  her  choice  of  subject.  The  subtle  tints  of 
the  living  human  flesh  and  the  beautiful  model- 
ling of  the  figure  appealed  to  her  by  their  very 
difficulty  of  interpretation,  and  she  deliberately 
set  herself  to  conquer  the  difficulty.  Even  in 
these  first  pictures  she  attained  an  amount  of 
success  that  marked  her  as  a  painter  of  more 
than  average  ability ;  there  was  nothing  in 
them  to  suggest  that  they  were  the  work  of  a 
young  artist  barely  out  of  the  schools. 

As  paintings  of  the  nude,  of  course,  they 
attracted  a  certain  amount  of  adverse  criticism 
from  that  irresponsible  section  of  the  public 
which  sees  in  this  class  of  subject  nothing  but 
impropriety  or  indecency.  One  of  these  self- 
constituted  guardians  of  artists'  and  the  public's 
morals  wrote  to  Mrs.  Normand  as  a  new 
exhibitor  ;  implored  her  "  to  pause  upon  the 
brink "  and  not  pervert  her  artistic  gifts  by 
painting  such  works.  When  the  letter  reached 
her  she  was  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  her 
infant  son,  who  had  been  born  shortly  after  the 
opening  of  the  exhibition.  The  letter  was 
shown  to  the  doctor  who  was  in  attendance,  and 


"ARIADNE."  37 

he  made  the  suggestion  that  the  artist  should 
reply  to  the  letter  and  state  that  she  had 
recently  given  birth  to  a  son  "  who  came  into 
the  world  entirely  naked,"  which  fact  seemed 
to  suggest  to  her  that  there  was  no  impropriety 
in  representing  the  human  form  as  it  was 
created. 

The  suggestion  recalls  the  story  of  John 
Gibson,  R.A.,  the  sculptor  who  was  questioned 
by  a  Scotch  lady  in  the  following  manner : 
"  Pray,  Mr.  Gibson,  why  do  sculptors  always 
indulge  in  representations  of  the  nude  human 
form  ?  It  is  so  indecent  and  demoralising." 
"Madam,"  was  the  reply,  "it  is  because  we 
think  that  God  Almighty  knew  how  to  represent 
the  human  form  far  better  than  the  tailor  or 
the  milliner;  and,  as  to  indecency,  I  should 
have  no  opinion  of  the  modesty  of  a  woman  who 
could  not  look  on  the  noblest  works  of  creation 
without  a  blush." 

Curiously  enough,  a  critic  in  the  Art  Journal 
fell  foul  of  Mrs.  Normand  for  clothing  Ariadne 
too  bounteously.  He  described  the  picture  as 
11  a  good  instance  of  the  attempt  at  a  com- 
promise between  classicism  and  convention- 
ality, and  by  it  an  otherwise  clever  picture  is 
marred";  he  suggested  that  the  artist  would 
have  done  better  to  follow  the  example  of 
others  in  the  exhibition  and  go  in  boldly  for 
the  completely  nude  in  such  subjects. 

At  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  exhibition  of 
this    year,  too,   was    a    small    picture    "  Elaine 


38  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

Guarding  the  Shield  of  Lancelot,"  for  which 
Mrs.  Normand  again  found  inspiration  in 
Tennyson's  "  Lancelot  and  Elaine."  The 
love  -  smitten  girl,  robed  in  green,  is  seated 
in  a  richly-draped  chamber,  gazing  at  the 
shield  of  her  hero,  which  she  supports  in 
front  of  her.  With  head  resting  on  her  other 
hand  she  dreamily  weaves  her  romantic  fancies 
round  this  war-scarred  emblem  of  Lancelot's 
prowess.     She 

"  Stript  off  the  case,  and  read  the  naked  shield, 
Now  guess'd  a  hidden  meaning  in   his  arms, 
Now  made  a  pretty  history  to  herself 
Of  every  dent  a  sword  had  beaten  in  it, 
And  every  scratch  a  lance  had  made  upon  it." 

The  year  1886  was  productive  of  but  one 
picture,  for  the  cares  of  maternity  absorbed 
much  of  Mrs.  Normand's  time.  "Doubts" 
was  sent  to  the  Academy,  where  it  was  ac- 
cepted and  accorded  a  good  position  near 
to  Sargent's  portrait  of  the  Misses  Vickers. 
Classicism  was  for  the  time  being  abandoned, 
and  a  return  made  to  the  style  of  the  first 
subject-picture  "  Love's  Young  Dream,"  which 
was  suggestive  of  that  of  Mr.  Marcus  Stone. 
On  Private  View  Day  Mr.  Stone  expressed 
his  opinion  of  the  attempt  as  "  Charming ! 
Charming ! "  The  reproduction  in  colour  of 
this  picture  precludes  the  necessity  of  any 
description.  It  marked  a  distinct  advance  in 
technique,  and  was  received  favourably  by  the 
critics. 


DOUBTS. 


"LOVE'S    YOUNG    DREAM." 

It  was  while  this  picture  was  in  progi 
that  their  neighbour,  the  late  Val  Prin-<  p,  R.A., 
introduced  himself  to  Mr.  and  Mr1-.  Normand, 
and  proffered  the  request  that  he  might 
call  and  see  their  work.  This  was  the  com- 
mencement of  a  close  and  intimate  friend- 
ship with  that  artist,  which  brought  them 
into  the  innermost  circle  of  the  Holland  Park 
coterie  of  which  Lord  Leighton  was  the 
centre.  Each  Sunday  the  Prinseps'  lawn  was 
devoted  to  tennis,  tea,  and  talk,  to  which  came 
all  the  artistic  celebrities  of  the  adjacent 
Melbury  Road,  and  many  other  people  of 
note,  among  whom  Browning  was  occasionally 
numbered. 

At      Prinsep's     suggestion     they     made      a 
formal      call      upon     Lord     Leighton — a     call 
undertaken     in     fear    and    trembling     at     their 
temerity  and   of  awe    of  the    President    of  the 
Royal  Academy.     It  was  all  needless,  for  they 
were     most     warmly     welcomed     by    Leighton, 
who  promised  to  come    the    next  day    "  to  see 
what    they    were     doing."       The     promise    was 
fulfilled,    and    from    that    time    Leighton    took 
the    greatest     possible     interest    in    the    wor!; 
of  his    young    neighbours.      A    frequent    visitor 
to    their    studio    he    was     ready    with    advice, 
criticism,   and  practical  demonstration  to  assist 
them    in     their     work.       The    value    of     such 
assistance     cannot,    of    course,   be     too    highly 
appreciated.       Leighton     was,   without     doubt, 
the    most    accomplished    man    of    his    time:    a 


40  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

perfect  master  of  the  technicalities  of  art, 
every  hint  and  suggestion  that  fell  from  him 
was  to  the  purpose  and  of  the  utmost  value 
to  the  recipients.  From  the  academic  point 
of  view  he  was  a  perfect  artist ;  composition, 
the  laws  of  light  and  shade,  tone  and  colour 
values,  were  all  at  his  command.  As  a  draughts- 
man few  could  equal  him,  and  his  methods 
of  work  kept  his  skill  in  this  direction  in 
constant  and  untiring  practice.  All  this  know- 
ledge and  experience  he  cheerfully  drew  upon 
for  the  benefit  of  these  two  beginners  in 
practical  artistry,  and  in  every  way  possible 
he  endeavoured  to  put  them  on  the  right 
track.  His  dominating  personality,  with  its 
confidence  in  its  own  strength,  told  somewhat 
against  the  desirability  of  such  close  fellow- 
ship in  matters  artistic;  it  unconsciously  led 
him  to  endeavour  to  mould  others  into  his 
methods,  and  to  the  adoption  of  his  point  of 
view.  To  an  impressionable  nature  such  an 
influence  was  irresistible,  and  its  continuous 
exercise  on  such  an  one  must  have  meant 
artistic  ruin. 

Leighton  had  a  method  peculiarly  his  own 
for  the  design  and  construction  of  his  pictures, 
a  method  that  was  the  outcome  of  his  experi- 
ence and  extraordinary  knowledge  and  skill. 
A  design  once  thought  out  was  never  departed 
from  in  its  essentials.  Once  recorded — even 
but  in  chalk  on  brown  paper,  which  was  the 
favourite    method — it  was  carefully  followed  up 


VAL     PRINSEP.     R.A. 


FRIENDSHIP    WITH   LEIGHTON.  41 

step  by  step  to  completion.  So  far  as  the 
design  was  concerned  the  picture  had  birth 
with  the  idea.  With  this  design  fixed  on 
paper  the  details  were  then  entered  upon. 
Studies  in  chalk  on  brown  paper  were  mad<- 
of  each  separate  part.  The  model  posed, 
drawings  were  first  made  from  the  nude  figure, 
and  then  the  drapery  added  and  drawn  from. 

"  There  is  my  next  picture,"  he  said  on 
one  occasion,  pointing  to  a  drawerful  of  these 
brown  paper  sketches.  Not  until  each  detail 
had  been  worked  out  was  the  canvas  prepared 
and  the  design  placed  upon  it.  Then  there 
was  thin  painting  in  burnt  sienna  and  white, 
so  thin  that  the  ground  of  the  canvas  was 
never  lost,  and  then  on  to  the  full  colour 
scheme,  working  from  the  detailed  drawings 
to    the  finish. 

To  Leighton  this  was  all  very  simple;  the 
system  suited  his  style  completely,  and  he 
believed  in  it  thoroughly  and  confidently.  For 
himself  and  his  own  requirements  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  was  efficacious  ;  he  could  always 
secure  his  own  particular  end  by  its  mean-. 
But  curiously  enough  he  had  the  idea  that 
the  system  could  be  adapted  to  any  require- 
ments and  would  suit  any  style  and  tempera- 
ment. When  he  had  known  the  Normands 
for  some  time  he  proposed  that  they  should 
execute  a  work  by  his  method — with  which,  of 
course,  they  were  by  then  thoroughly  familiar. 
"  I  want  you,"  he  said,  "  each  to  paint  a  head. 


42  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

I  will  send  you  two  canvases  prepared  in  the 
same  manner  in  which  mine  are  prepared, 
together  with  a  set  of  brushes  such  as  I  use. 
You  are  to  pose  the  model ;  make  your  design 
from  the  first  and  never  depart  from  it ;  keep 
your  shadows  open  and  stage  by  stage  bring 
your  work  to  completion.  Let  me  see  which 
of  you  can  the  more  intelligently  render  your 
impressions  of  the  model  in  my  method,  and 
with  my  materials." 

The  proposal  was  laughingly  accepted,  but 
with  no  very  confident  hopes  of  success.  The 
model  was  posed  and  draped  as  Leightonesquely 
as  possible,  and  the  prescribed  method  duly 
followed  as  closely  as  was  practicable  to  the 
two  novices  in  its  application.  Progress  was 
not  very  satisfactory :  the  studies  dragged  in 
their  difficulty;  and  their  instigator  was  for 
the  time  avoided.  But  at  length  he  had  to 
be  met,  and  the  first  question  was :  "  Well, 
when  am  I  to  come  and  see  those  two 
studies  ?  " 

Mr.  Normand  replied,  "  We  would  like  you 
to  leave  it  for  a  week  or  so,  for  I  am  rather 
in  a  mess  with  mine." 

"  Mess !  My  dear  Normand,  there  is  no 
mess  in  my  method !  "  responded  the  Presi- 
dent. 

But  he  had  to  acknowledge  that  it  was  not 
a  method  for  everybody's  use  when  he  saw 
the  resultant  effects.  They  were  but  two 
weak,  far-away  reflections  of  a  Leighton  study, 


FRIENDSHIP    WITH    LEIGHTON.  43 

without  individuality  or  strength.  They  had 
been  carried  out  according  to  instructions,  to 
which  close  adherence  had  been  given  by  the 
artists,  who  were  prompted  by  the  prevailing 
idea  of  pleasing  Leighton  through  the  per- 
formance. Seated  in  a  comfortable  chair  (his 
necessary  position  for  criticism)  in  front  of  the 
canvases,  the  President  drew  a  deep  sigh  as 
he  resigned  his  cherished  opinion  of  his  method 
and  its  universal  adaptability. 

"  Oh,  well,  I  suppose  it's  no  use  trying  to 
graft  one's  methods  upon  people  whose  work- 
inclines  to  a  different  groove.  I  think  that 
you  had  better  paint  them  out." 

The  suggestion  was  not  adopted,  and  later 
on  Mrs.  Normand  painted  over  her  study  in 
thicker  colour,  and  by  chance,  four  years  later, 
Leighton  happened  to  catch  sight  of  it. 
11  Whose  pretty  work  is  that  ?  "  he  asked,  and 
the  history  of  the  sketch  had  to  be  recalled 
to   his   mind. 

With  a  predilection  for  classic  subjects 
already  existing  in  her  mind  it  is  no  matter 
for  surprise  that,  under  the  influence  of 
Leighton,  Mrs.  Normand  should  directly  turn 
to  them  for  her  next  pictures.  The  success 
of  the  "Ariadne"  had,  before  this,  naturally  en- 
couraged her  bias  towards  classicism,  and  the 
conviction  was  now  definitely  formed  that  such 
subjects  were  her  metier.  Two  canvases  were 
laid  down  for  the  Royal  Academy  of  1887, 
and     the     subjects     selected     for     them     were 


44  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

"  Eurydice    Sinking    Back  to  Hades "   and   "  A 
Naiad." 

The  former  was  the  most  important  canvas 
yet  attempted,  both  in  point  of  subject  and 
size — its  dimensions  being  seven  feet  by  four 
feet. 

It  is  an  original  and  daring  attempt  to 
illustrate  the  myth  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice. 
The  moment  chosen  for  illustration  is  that 
when,  as  the  result  of  Orpheus's  backward 
glance,  Eurydice  sinks  down,  lifeless  and  inert, 
to  the  depths  from  which  she  had  so  joy- 
fully risen  at  the  bidding  of  her  hero.  It 
was  a  difficult  subject  to  render  on  canvas, 
and  one  from  which  many  would  have  shrunk 
intuitively;  but  Mrs.  Normand  is  at  her  best 
when  difficulties  are  in  the  way,  and  Eurydice 
was,  without  question,  her  most  successful 
work  up  to  this  point. 

Eurydice  is  shown  in  profile  in  the  centre 
of  the  forefront  of  the  picture ;  one  hand  is 
extended  convulsively  to  clutch  at  the  jutting 
rock ;  her  legs  are  doubling  lifelessly  and  her 
body  is  swaying  backwards  into  the  dark 
gulf  from  which  she  has  but  just  emerged. 
Her  fast  closing  eyes  are  passionately  fixed 
on  Orpheus,  who  is  seen  over  the  corner  of 
the  rock  higher  up  the  path,  turning  the 
fateful  glance  which  sent  his  beloved  back 
to  Hades.  The  beauty  of  the  figure  of 
Eurydice,  and  the  delicacy  of  the  flesh 
painting,     formed     a     veritable     triumph     for 


EURYDICE     SINKING     BACK     TO     HADES. 
In    the   possession  of  G.    L.    Beeforth,    Esq. 


"EURYDICE  SINKING  HACK  TO  HADES?   45 

Mrs.  Normand.  The  picture  was  hung  in  the 
sixth  room  at  the  Academy,  and  attracted  con- 
siderable attention.  It  afterwards  passed  into 
the  collection  of  Mr.  G.  L.  Beeforth,  of 
Scarborough,  by  whose  courtesy  we  are  enabled 
to  reproduce  it  in  these  pages. 

The  second  picture,  "  A  Naiad,"  was  hung 
on  the  line  in  the  last  room,  and  brought 
additional  repute  to  the  artist.  The  Times 
referred  to  it  as  "  the  best  study  of  the  nude 
that  Miss  Henrietta  Rae  has  ever  painted. 
'  The  Naiad  '  is  treated  with  very  great  ability, 
intelligence,  and  delicacy." 

Curiously  enough,  there  were  but  few  nude 
subjects,  not  more  than  three  or  four  alto- 
gether, in  the  exhibition ;  whether  this  was 
due  to  the  recently  completed  "  British 
matron  "  campaign  which  had  been  raging  in 
the  newspapers  for  some  time  previously  or 
not  cannot  now  be  said.  The  opportunity, 
however,  was  not  lost.  The  Echo  thus  sum- 
marised the  matter :  "  It  is  not  an  exhibition 
at  which  the  British  matron  will  be  shocked, 
for,  with  two  exceptions  painted  by  a  British 
matron  herself,  there  is  hardly  a  nude  figure 
on  the  walls." 

The  "  Eurydice "  exhibited  Mrs.  Normand 
as  an  artist  as  well  as  a  painter,  for  there  are 
imagination  and  feeling  in  this  work  such  as 
had  not  been  displayed  in  any  other,  save  in 
a  lesser  degree,  in  the  "  Ariadne."  It  marked 
a  very  distinct  advance   in  her  art,  her  powers 


46  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

of  expression,  and  ability  as  a  painter.  The 
critics,  generally,  wrote  well  of  it,  though  the 
Daily  Telegraph,  after  congratulating  the  artist 
on  "  her  courage  in  dealing  with  unadorned 
beauty,"  went  on  to  say  that  "  she  can  scarcely 
be  felicitated  on  the  beauty  of  her  models, 
who  are  given  to  attenuation,  or  on  the 
attitude  of  Eurydice,  which  is  strained  and 
disagreeable." 

Punch  favoured  the  picture  with  a  small 
caricature,  emphasising  this  same  point,  which 
was  inscribed  "  After  Six  Lessons,  Lady 
Amateur  Imitating  Eminent  Tragedian." 

The  two  pictures  undoubtedly  greatly  en- 
hanced Mrs.  Normand's  reputation,  and  marked 
her  as  one  of  the  most  promising  women 
artists  of  the  day,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
refined  and  skilful  painters  of  the  nude  then 
exhibiting  in  England.  The  absurd  argument 
of  the  purists  that  such  works  were  degrading 
and  sensual  in  their  conception  and  influence 
was  confuted  and  set  at  naught  by  these 
canvases  painted  by  a  woman,  for  such  con- 
siderations were,  under  these  conditions,  futile. 
The  success  of  the  pictures  was  material,  and 
not  merely  one  of  repute,  for  both  canvases 
were  sold  (the  copyright  of  the  "  Naiad "  was 
secured  by  the  Berlin  Photographic  Company), 
perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  form  of  success 
that  can  be  desired  by  an  artist.  In  any  case 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  most 
encouraging,   for    it    denotes    to  the    artist  that 


"ECJRYDICE  SINKING  HACK  TO  HADES."  47 

full  appreciation  of  his,  or  her,  efforts  which 
is  the  greatest  incentive  to  good  work. 

The  "  Eurydice "  was  sent  to  the  Inter- 
national Exhibitions  at  Paris  (1889)  and 
Chicago,  and  was  awarded  an  Honourable 
Mention  at  the  former  and  a  medal  at  the 
latter. 

By  this  time  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  had 
thoroughly  settled  down  in  Holland  Park  Road, 
and  had  been  adopted  as  the  proteges  of  the 
older  artists  among  whom  they  lived.  Their 
studio  was  constantly  visited  by  Leighton, 
Millais,  Prinsep,  Watts  and  others,  who  each,  in 
a  measure,  seemed  to  hold  themselves  respon- 
sible for  the  work  they  happened  to  have  in 
hand.  Criticisms  and  advice  were  freely  offered, 
which,  if  not  in  every  case  accepted,  was  chiefly 
for  the  reason  that  the  obiter  dictum  of  one  artist 
was  negatived  by  that  of  another.  The  conse- 
quence, often  enough,  was  that  all  had  to  be 
abandoned,  and  their  own  schemes  and  plans 
carried  through  without  regard  to  the  sugges- 
tions of  their  many  friends.  The  close  interest 
manifested  by  Leighton  was,  however,  of  the 
greatest  value  to  them.  His  wonderful  know- 
ledge and  skilful  help  were  always  at  their 
disposal  and  unstintingly  bestowed  to  their 
advantage.  His  criticisms  were  always  kindly 
and  to  the  point ;  his  advice  always  sound  and 
reliable.  With  a  piece  of  pastel  he  would 
demonstrate  on  the  canvas  the  point  which  he 
was   urging,   and  with  a  few  deft  touches  prove 


hbnrii 

.  nen  and  his  skill.  His  kindness  and 
were  unfailing;  no  troubk  was  too 
great  for  him  to  take  in  a  matter  in  which  he 
was  really  interested,  and  that  the  work  of 
Mrs.  Xormand  was  such  there  is  no  shadow  of 
doubt  That  Mrs.  Normand  wes  much  to  hi 
s  e  has  I  as  since  acknowledged.  In  an  au:  - 
biographical  sketch  published  in  1901  she 
wrote  :  '•  To  Leigh  I  v  erhaps.  I  owe  the  deepc  -  I 
debt  of  gratitude.  His  dominating  persona 
from  the  outset  exercised  on  my  impressionable 
nature  a  most  wonderful  and  permanent  in- 
fluence, and  to  his  fostering  care  I  a; tribute  the 
velopment  of  any  powers  [>£  design  I  may 
possess.  His  criticisms,  though  severe,  and  at 
times  almost  scathing,  always  left  me  with  the 
feeling  that  he  expected  me  some  day  to  do 
good  work,  and  the  very  pen  -..nee  v  vhich 
for   years    he    superintended    our    productioi 

specially   in   the   early    stages  sition 

and  desicr..    was    in    itself  a  liment.      To 

use   one    of    his  own   ex       ss     as,   one    felt    one 
was  working  'in  an  atmosphere  of  sympathy.' 

Sir  John  Millais  and  Val  Prinsu  .  .  were 
equally  generous.  The  former  would  devote 
his  advice  almost  entirely  to  questions  of 
colour,  and  would  tender  it  in  the  bluff, 
genial  manner  which  was  his  great  character- 
istic. Prinsep  was  notably  unsparing  in  his 
criticisms ;  the  closer  his  friendship  the  more 
frank,  or  rather  blunt,  were  his  criticisms. 
Mrs.     Xormand     was    not     exempt    from    the 


ZEPHYRUS     WOOING      FLORA. 


"ii\sion   of  Messrs.    /.    P.    Mendoza      Ltd., 
Owners    of   the    Copyr: 


"ZEPHYRUS    \VOOL\G    FLORA."  49 

smart  of  his  caustic  remarks;  her  work  was 
as  remorselessly  dealt  with  as  that  of  his  other 
intimate  friends ;  the  fault-finding  was  prob- 
ably all  perfectly  just,  and  the  criticism  true, 
but  the  resentment  roused  by  the  untonrd 
brusqueness  of  its  presentment  doubtless  greatly 
interfered  with  the  salutary  effect  it  was  in- 
tended to  have. 

It  was  under  such  conditions  of  tutelage, 
therefore,  that  Mrs.  Normand's  next  work  was 
prepared.  "  Zephyrus  wooing  Flora ':  was 
submitted  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  188S,  and 
duly  accepted.  The  picture  was  even  more 
ambitious  than  the  "  Eurydice,"  and  in  its  re- 
sult showed  that  the  progress  of  the  previous 
year  was  being  maintained.  Decorative  in 
treatment,  the  whole  scheme  gave  the  artist  an 
opportunity  to  reveal  her  powers  more  fully  as 
a  colourist,  an  opportunity  of  which  she  availed 
herself  to  the  utmost.  The  reproduction  of 
this  picture  will  serve  as  a  memorandum  of 
its  general  colour  scheme,  for  the  great  reduc- 
tion, of  course,  does  not  allow  of  the  facsimile 
rendering  of  the  beautiful  details.  The  skilful, 
almost  perfect,  flesh  painting  of  the  two  figures, 
the  wondrous  iridescence  of  the  wings  of 
Zephyrus,  the  mass  of  flowers  among  which 
the  goddess  is  seated,  and  with  which  she  is 
garlanded,  and  the  bright  green  of  the  back- 
ground of  foliage,  make  a  whole  which  is 
a  veritable  feast  of  colour.  The  figure  of 
Zephyrus     floats    downward    to    meet    that    of 


50  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

Flora,  whose  pose  expresses  an  exultant  wel- 
come, as  with  head  thrown  back  she  presents 
her  lips  for  the  expected  kiss. 

In  connection  with  this  picture  there  is 
an  incident  relative  to  the  late  G.  F.  Watts 
which  illustrates  his  extraordinary  knowledge 
of  anatomy — a  knowledge  which  enabled  him 
to  paint  without  models  for  the  greater  part 
of  his  working  life.  He  visited  Mrs.  Normand's 
studio  while  "  Zephyrus  and  Flora "  was  in 
course  of  progress,  and  at  once  discovered  a 
flaw  in  the  foreshortening  of  the  figure  of 
Zephyrus.  To  demonstrate  his  point  he  drew 
on  the  canvas,  over  the  figure,  the  complete 
foreshortened  skeleton  to  show  "  where  you 
must  make  an  alteration  in  the  swing  of  the 
figure,  to  account  for  the  design,  and  make 
it  correct  with  nature." 

This  picture  was  hung  on  the  line  in  the 
eighth  room  at  the  Academy,  where  it  attracted 
considerable  attention  and  gained  from  the 
critics  a  cordial  reception.  Even  the  AthencBum, 
in  a  grandfatherly  way,  gave  its  benison : 
" '  Zephyrus  wooing  Flora,'  "  said  its  critic, 
"  is  an  interesting  illustration  of  a  lady's  skill 
and  taste  in  painting  nudities  and  an  amorous 
subject  in  a  way  reminding  us  of  Bronzino's 
'Venus  and  Cupid'  in  the  National  Gallery. 
The  slender  deity  stoops  over  the  willing  god- 
dess in  her  rose-bower.  A  dainty  design,  it  is 
nicely  as  well  as  ably  drawn.  The  carnations 
are    bright,  pure,  and   varied ;    the  faces  are  a 


LU         5 

— 

uj     : 

> 

w 

<      -; 


"./  reverie:'  51 

little  thin,  and  the  forms  are  too  slender,  hut 
do  not  lack  grace,  appropriate  ,  or  elegant 
Zephyrus's  large  and  splendidly  nacreous 
moth's  wings  are  very  pretty,  and  the  land- 
scape is  pleasing  and  true.  A  little  more 
fibre  and  solidity  would  have  justified  the 
lady's  hopes  of  high  distinction  in  her  art." 

This  extract  forms  a  characteristic  example 
of  the  position  taken  up  by  some  of  the  older 
art  critics  of  the  day  in  relation  to  women- 
artists.  Acknowledgment  of  skill  was  grudgingly 
given,  and  was  always  tempered  with  that  touch 
of  superiority  and  condescension  which  irritates 
and  annoys. 

At  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  of  this  year 
Mrs.  Normand  was  represented  by  "  A  Reverie," 
a  picture  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Ernest 
De  la  Rue.  It  is  a  study  from  the  model  who 
sat  for  "  Doubts  "  dressed  in  a  somewhat  similar 
Directoire  gown,  seated  on  a  couch  over  which 
is  placed  a  tiger-skin  rug. 


52 


CHAPTER    V. 

i 889-1 890. 

"  The  Death  of  Procris,"  "  Sleep," 
"  Sylvia,"  "  Ophelia,"  Paris. 

THE  important  work  of  the  following  year, 
1889,  was  the  "  Death  of  Procris,"  another 
classic  semi-nude  subject.  The  myth  of 
Cephalus  and  Procris,  with  its  poetry  and 
pathetic  tragedy,  inspired  the  artist  to  make 
yet  another  effort  to  outshine  her  previous 
work.  The  moment  chosen  for  illustration  is 
that  when  the  fatal  dart  shot  by  Cephalus 
has  pierced  the  bosom  of  the  loving,  jealous 
daughter  of  Erechtheus,  who  in  her  search 
for  her  supposed  rival  has  thus  drawn  death 
upon  herself  through  the  medium  of  her 
husband's  hands.  Procris  has  sunk  to  earth 
with  one  hand  clasped  to  her  wounded  breast ; 
she  lies  across  the  foreground  of  the  picture 
with  her  back  to  the  spectator,  leaning  heavily 
on  her  right  hand ;  her  beautiful  face  raised 
in  grief  and  pain  to  Heaven  is  seen  in  profile. 
On  the  left  of  the  picture  the  figure  of 
Cephalus  is  seen  breaking  madly  through  the 
forest   growth,    with    terror    in    his    eyes    as    he 


11  THE   DEATH    OE   PROCRIS."  S3 

realises   the  quarry   brought   down    by  his    shot 
at  a  venture. 

The  difficulties — self-imposed  be   it   remem- 
bered— connected    with    the    execution    of    this 
work   were    many   and   great.      It   would    seem 
that    Mrs.     Normand     deliberately    set     herself 
difficult     problems     to    solve     for     the      sheer 
delight     of    wrestling    with,     and     overcoming 
them.       It    would   have    been    so    much    easier 
to   have    painted    pretty   little    costume    pieces, 
which  would  have    sold    far   more   quickly  and 
taken  far  less  time  to  paint  than  these  gallery 
pictures   with    their   ingenious    evasions   of  the 
commonplace     and     conventional.       But     such 
was   not    Mrs.    Normand's    nature.      Easy  suc- 
cess was,   to  her,  not  worth    achievement,   and 
so   with    the  justifiable    pride    of   ambition    she 
set    herself    to    solve    difficulties    of    her    own 
creation.      The  pose  of  Procris,  predetermined 
from   the   first  conception    of  the    idea   for   the 
picture,  was  one   that   could    not    be    sustained 
by   a    model    for   any    useful    length    of    time ; 
the    strain    upon    the    back    and  arm    was    too 
great   to    be    borne.      What    was    to    be    done  ? 
Mrs.  Normand,  unlike   Mr.  J.   C.   Horsley,  was 
in  the  habit  of  working  from  the  living  model ; 
it  was  absolutely   necessary   for   her   to    do    so 
if  correctness  was  to  be  attained  and  maintained 
in  her  studies. 

The  progress  of  "The  Death  of  Procris" 
was  being  carefully  followed  by  the  academic 
neighbours,     friends     and     advisers,    and     this 


54  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

difficulty  was  duly  explained  to  them,  and 
ways  and  means  of  meeting  it  formed  the 
subject  of  eager  discussion.  Leighton  it  was 
who  offered  a  practical  solution,  and  his  sug- 
gestion was  that  a  small  figure  should  be 
modelled  in  clay.  "  It's  the  only  way  out  of 
it,"  he  said.  "  Work  from  the  living  model 
and  get  it  cast,  as  I  do.  Have  the  arms  cast 
separately  so  that  you  can  arrange  miniature 
draperies  on  the  figure." 

This,  as  was  very  well  known,  was 
Leighton's  frequent  course  of  procedure. 
Modelling  in  clay  or  wax  was  to  him  as  easy 
as  drawing  or  painting,  but  Mrs.  Normand's 
attention  had  been  given  exclusively  to 
the  one  art,  and  modelling  was  altogether 
out  of  her  domain.  Here  Mr.  Normand  came 
to  the  rescue,  as  he  so  often  did  when  ob- 
stacles to  progress  demanded  extraneous  skill 
or  knowledge.  He  is  peculiarly  gifted  with 
constructional  ability,  and  he  set  to  work  to 
model  the  "  Procris  "  with  as  light  a  heart 
as,  on  another  occasion,  he  did  to  make  a 
bow  of  peculiar  build  for  Leighton's  use 
when    he    was    painting    "  Hit." 

Moreover,  nearly  all  the  members  of  the 
coterie  felt  bound  to  have  a  finger  in  the  clay, 
and  it  became  a  question  as  to  whom  the  credit 
was  to  go  for  the  construction  of  the  figure. 
Each,  of  course,  laid  claim  to  the  good  points 
as  they  were  developed,  but  when  it  was 
creditably    finished,    and    the    cast    made,     Mr. 


LU 


"  THE    DEATH    OF   PROCRIS."  55 

Normand  decided  definitely  that  it  was  his, 
and  that  to  him  alone  belonged  the  glory.  It 
was  seen    by    Onslow     Ford,    who    ]  d     it, 

and  Mr.  Normand  thought  that  was  sufficient 
incentive  to  finish  it  for  casting  in  bronze. 
Eager  for  further  commendation  from  the 
sculptor  he  enquired  of  him  tentatively, 
"  How  long  would  it  have  taken  you  to 
do?" 

"  Oh,  about  a  day-and-a-half,"  was  Ford's 
reply. 

11  Good  heavens !  "  was  the  involuntary 
ejaculation,  "  it's  taken  us  a  week !  But  how 
long  would  it  take  you  to  get  it  ready  for 
bronze  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  should  put  another  three  months' 
work  into  it,"  said  Ford,  a  reply  which 
effectually  destroyed  the  project.  The  plaster 
cast  of  the  miniature  "  Procris "  still  reposes 
on  a  bracket  in  the  studio,  dusty  and  mutilated 
by  Time — a  mute  record  of  a  difficulty  and 
a  co-operative  solution. 

The  background  of  this  picture  was  painted 
at  Coldharbour,  but  the  foliage  through  which 
Cephalus  is  forcing  his  way  was  studied  from 
nut  saplings  which  grew  in  Holland  Park. 
The  gardener  there  was  another  willing  helper 
in  the  train  of  the  artist,  and  kept  her 
supplied  each  day  with  saplings  until  that 
portion  of  the  work  was  finished. 

With  "The  Death  of  Procris"  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand   again    secured    a    good    position    in    the 


56  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

Academy  Exhibition,  and  the  picture  and 
copyright  were  sold,  during  the  course  of  the 
-exhibition,  to  Mr.  George  Woodiwiss,  of  Bath. 

In  1889  "Sleep"  and  "  Sylvia,"  studies  of 
heads,  which  afforded  relief  from  the  more 
serious  work  in  hand,  were  exhibited  at  the 
Grosvenor  Gallery  and  the  Society  of  Lady 
Artists  respectively.  The  former  picture  met 
with  an  untimely  end  at  the  hands  of  the 
artist's  son  whilst  he  was  indulging  in  some 
gymnastic  exercises. 

Classic  subjects  were  now  to  be  abandoned 
for  a  few  years  ;  for  the  following  year's 
Academy  picture  Mrs.  Normand  turned  to 
Shakespeare,  and  decided  to  add  her  contribu- 
tion to  the  long  list  of  paintings  of  "  Ophelia." 
Originality  of  treatment  was  an  absolute  neces- 
sity if  success  was  to  be  gained  with  such  a 
subject,  for  "  Ophelia "  is  doubtless  the  most 
be-painted  character  of  any  created  by  Shake- 
speare. In  the  majority  of  cases  artists  have 
centred  all  their  strength  on  the  depiction  of 
"  Ophelia  "  alone,  at  one  or  other  stage  of  her 
dementation.  Mrs.  Normand's  scheme  was 
for  an  important  composition  in  which 
"  Ophelia "  should  take  her  place  with  others 
in  the  representation  of  her  tragedy.  The 
outcome  was  the  picture  which  now  hangs  in 
the  Walker  Art  Gallery,  at  Liverpool,  the 
property  of  the  Liverpool  Corporation. 

Ophelia  is  shown  as  she  passes  through 
the   court   of  the  palace   in   which   are    seated 


"OPHELIA."  57 

the   king   and   queen  :    a   beautiful    figure,  with 

the  strained,  intense  look  of  insanity  in  her 
eyes  as  she  glances  at  the  occupants  of  the 
room.  With  flowers  entwined  in  her  hair, 
and  others  trailing  from  her  uplifted  skirt,  she 
offers  to  the  startled  pair  a  twig  of  rue — 
"There's  rue  for  you," — while  Laertes  and  his 
Danes  stand  in  the  background. 

During  the  painting  of  this  picture  Mrs. 
Normand  was  again  overwhelmed  by  the 
criticisms  and  suggestions  of  her  numerous 
artistic  godfathers.  The  composition  of  the 
king  and  queen  group  was  to  them  a  great 
cause  of  worry,  far  more  so  than  it  would 
have  been  to  the  artist  had  she  insisted  on 
following  her  own  design.  Instead  of  doing 
this  she  endeavoured  to  please  her  friends  by 
following  their  advice,  with  the  usual  result 
that  she  gave  herself  unnecessary  labour  on 
the  picture  and  offended,  rather  than  pleased, 
her  critics.  The  position  of  the  heads  was  the 
source  of  contention ;  one  was  for  placing  them 
one  way,  and  another  suggested  something 
totally  different,  while  the  perplexed  artist  spent 
her  time  in  shifting  the  heads  to  suit  the 
various  opinions.  Leighton  had  watched  these 
continuous  alterations  with  growing  impatience, 
for  it  was,  of  course,  opposed  to  all  his  prin- 
ciples of  design.  At  length  he  could  contain 
his  feelings  no  longer.  Turning  to  Mrs. 
Normand  he  said,  sharply :  "  This  is  becom- 
ing  folly ;    there's    now   only   one    place   where 


58  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

you  haven't  put  that  king's  head,  and  that's 
on  the  floor." 

He  would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
the  picture,  and  steadfastly  declined  to  express 
another  opinion  upon  it.  "  I  have  nothing  to 
say  about  it,"  was  all  that  could  be  obtained 
from  him. 

The  picture  was  accepted  by  the  Academy, 
but  on  varnishing  day  a  great  disappointment 
awaited  both  Mrs.  Normand  and  her  husband. 
For  some  years  before  this  they  had  each 
been  fortunate  in  the  positions  given  their 
works  by  the  Hanging  Committee,  but  on  this 
occasion  they  found  "Ophelia"  placed  pendant 
to"Vashti  Deposed" — Mr.  Normand's  picture 
— on  either  side  of  a  doorway,  above  the  line, 
in  one  of  the  smaller  rooms.  They  looked  with 
dismay — with  a  strong  blend  of  disgust — at 
the  positions  awarded  them,  and  whilst  they 
were  contemplating  the  arrangement,  Edwin 
Long  who  proved  to  be  the  "  hanger,"  came 
upon  the  scene.  "  Well,  Normand,"  he  said, 
"  how  do  you  like  your  positions  ?  "  The  reply, 
naturally,  was  not  an  enthusiastic  one,  and 
the  hope  was  murmured  that  the  pictures 
would  have  proved  worthy  of  a  place  on  the 
line.  "  Ah,  but  you  must  understand  that 
you  can't  take  a  lease  of  centres  on  the  line 
at  the  Academy,  you  know,"  was  the  retort, 
and  the  disconsolate  pair  were  left  to  their 
pictures. 

Sir  John    Millais    commiserated   with  them, 


APPLE-BLOSSOM. 


"OPHELIA?  59 

and    suggested   that   if   the    pictures   were   tilt*  d 

a  little  they  would  look  better.  This  sug- 
gestion had  already  been  made  and  Long  had 
declined  to  accede  to  it,  as  it  "would  inter- 
fere with  the  little  pictures  down  the  sides" 
— small  canvases  that  had  been  hung  to  fill 
the  space  between  the  wall  and  the  frames 
of  the  two  larger  works.  Millais  was  not 
satisfied  with  that,  and  went  himself  to 
seek  Long  and  bring  him  to  the  scene  of 
discontent. 

11  Now,  Long,"  he  said,  "  can't  you  manage 

to    tilt    these    pictures    of    the    Normands' 

Eh  ?  What  ?  Oh  d — n  the  little  pictures 
down  the  sides !  " — and  the  point  was  gained. 
Both  pictures,  curiously  enough,  were  subse- 
quently purchased  for  Corporation  collections, 
"Ophelia"  for  Liverpool,  and  "  Vashti "  for 
Oldham. 

The  rebuff,  for  so  it  was  considered  by  both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  gave  rise  to  serious 
questionings  and  communings  between  them. 
Was  the  hanging  justified  by  the  quality  of 
the  work  ?  Did  it  really  mean  that  there  was 
deterioration — that  their  standard  of  achieve- 
ment was  lower  instead  of  higher  ?  If  so, 
what  could  be  done  to  arrest  the  falling  off 
of  power;  to  bring  back  the  full  vigour  of  their 
artistic  health  and  strength  ?  In  their  dis- 
heartened and  dispirited  condition  they  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  only  means  of  grace 
lay  in    their   once    more   going    to    school,   and 


60  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

that  the  road  to  salvation  ran  through  Paris. 
The  conclusion  reached,  decisive  action  followed. 
The  house  at  Kensington  was  let,  as  it  stood, 
to  Mr.  John  Charlton  ;  the  child  was  sent  to 
the  country  with  his  nurse,  and  the  two 
seekers  after  knowledge  took  up  their  quarters 
in  Paris  and  entered  their  names  at  the  Atelier 
Julian. 


STUDY     OF     A     HEAD     IN     CHALK. 
Drawn   in   Paris,    1890. 


6i 


CHAPTER    VI. 

1890. 

Study  in  Paris:    Life  at  Grez. 

ONE  of  the  first  persons  they  met  in  Paris, 
whom  they  knew,  was  Edwin  Long,  the 
unwitting  cause  of  their  presence  there.  Asked 
by  him  as  to  their  reason  for  being  in  Paris, 
he  was  told  that  their  experience  at  the  Royal 
Academy  had  led  them  to  believe  that  there 
was  something  wrong  in  their  work,  so  they 
had  decided  "  to  go  to  school  again."  The 
chastened  humility  of  the  reply  should  have 
softened  the  heart  of  the  Academician,  and 
given  him  cause  to  think  whether  his  application 
of  the  rod  had  not,  in  the  circumstances,  been 
rather  more  severe  than  was  necessary. 

However,  to  school  they  went ;  through  the 
ordinary  curriculum  of  Julian's,  working  alter- 
nately under  Benjamin-Constant  and  Jules 
Lefebvre.  It  was  not  easy,  after  the  pleasures 
of  her  own  studio,  for  Mrs.  Normand  to  settle 
down  to  work  in  a  crowded  atelier;  after  the 
delights  of  independence,  to  become  a  pupil 
and  work  to  order;  to  be  reprimanded  even,  for 
not  diligently  adhering  to  the  school  routine, 
On    one    occasion,    after    setting     the    model, 


62  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

Benjamin-Constant  examined  her  work.  There 
was  not  the  close  realistic  following  of  the  model 
expected  of  the  student,  but  rather  the  selection 
and  general  treatment  of  the  experienced  artist 
who  used  the  model  just  so  far  as  it  was  needed. 
Benjamin-Constant  protested ;  she  was  not 
working  as  a  student  should;  she  had  entered 
as  a  pupil  at  Julian's,  and  must  abide  by  the 
rules  and  regulations  laid  down  for  her  guidance 
and  benefit ;  she  "  must  please  adhere  to  the 
faithfully  accurate  copying  of  the  model." 

The  same  day  the  master  visited  the  men's 
atelier  and  saw  Mr.  Normand  doing  exactly  the 
same  kind  of  work  for  which  he  had  administered 
a  reprimand  in  the  morning — although,  of  course, 
nothing  was  known  by  Benjamin-Constant  of 
the  relationship   of  the  two  students. 

"  A  most  extraordinary  coincidence  !  "  ex- 
claimed the  master;  "when  superintending  the 
women's  work  to-day,  I  had  to  complain  of  the 
work  of  one  of  them  which  was  equally  wrong 
with  yours.  This  might  be  permissible  in  a 
finished  artist,  but  we  cannot  allow  it  in  our 
pupils." 

Neither  Benjamin-Constant  nor  Lefebvre  was 
aware  that  their  pupils  had  been  for  some  years 
constant  exhibitors  at  the  Royal  Academy,  but 
it  must  have  been  obvious  to  them  that  in 
entering  as  ordinary  students  they  were,  in  a 
sense,  sailing  under  false  colours.  But  both 
Mrs.  Normand  and  her  husband  worked  hard 
and  conscientiously  in   the  schools,  and  gained 


LA     CIGALE. 


By   Permission  of  Messrs.    H.    Graves  A  Co.,    Ltd., 
Owners  of  the   Copyright. 


LIFE  AT  GREZ.  63 

many  complimentary  remarks  from  the  visiting 

artists.     After  a  few  months  of  atelier  life,  In  the 

hottest  part  of  the  year,  Mrs.  Normand  felt  the 
need  of  a  fresher  atmosphere  in  every  sense  of 
the  word.  They  had  made  their  temporary 
home  in  the  Latin  Quarter,  and,  in  spite  of 
daily  sketching  excursions  up  the  river,  the  life 
in  town  was  a  great  strain  upon  her.  A  move 
was,  therefore,  decided  upon,  and  acting  on 
the  advice  of  some  of  their  Paris  friends  they 
pitched  their  camp  at  Grez  par  Nemours, 
the  rival  artists'  resort  to  Barbizon. 

R.  A.  M.  Stevenson  has  given  the  following 
picturesque  description  of  the  village :  "  Grez 
is  one  of  the  lesser  dependencies  of  Fontaine- 
bleau.  Barbizon  and  Marlotte  are  the  greatest, 
though  it  was  reported  that  the  men  of  1830 
favoured  Grez  before  Rousseau  went  to  Bar- 
bizon. Grez  looks  as  if  it  had  crept  down 
from  the  forest  upland,  drawing  a  long  tail 
of  tall  poplars  after  it  across  a  mile  or  so  of 
rolling  plain  till  it  finally  settled  in  a  hollow 
by  the  sluggish  stream  that  drains  the  Gatinais. 
But  for  a  square  in  the  middle  and  a  stray 
house  or  two,  the  village  consists  of  a  single 
street,  a  strand  running  along  the  Loing — a 
river  about  as  large  as  the  Cam.  Old  gardens 
run  down  to  the  water  and  give  each  house 
its  port  or  marine  approach.  Fronting  the 
street,  of  course,  all  is  stern  stone,  bare  gable- 
ends,  and  big  yard-doors.  As  in  the  East, 
all    the    life    and    amenity    lie    behind    in    the 


64  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

large  courtyards  and  ample  old  terraced 
gardens.  Tradition  and  the  ruins  of  a  castle 
are  all  that  speak  of  a  former  existence  greater 
and  busier  than  the  present.  ...  I  cannot 
explain  the  politics  of  a  colony,  nor  tell  how, 
as  Grez  rose,  Barbizon  declined,  and  became 
a  place  where  diamonds  glinted  among  blouses 
and  the  cabotin  was  seen  in  his  glory.  Such 
a  lurid  sunset  ushers  in  the  night  of  the 
outer  world ;  the  artist  fades,  and  out  comes 
an  innumerable  host  of  twinkling  tourists, 
flitting  past  with  guide-books  and  ready  silver 
in  their  hands.  Colonies  arise  in  a  village 
remote  from  the  sophistication  of  the  '  maison 
botirgeozse.1  .  .  .  The  artist  of  the  earlier 
part  of  the  century  had  few  wants  and  was 
easily  pleased,  except  professionally.  Imposing 
neither  in  dress,  conversation,  nor  manners,  the 
painter  soon  propitiated  the  peasant  at  the 
blacksmith's  or  the  carpenter's,  at  the  inn 
and  the  village  fetes.  Profit,  too,  attended  the 
sojourn  of  the  stranger,  who  was  shaved,  dressed, 
and  supplied  with  picture  cases,  stretchers, 
easels,  and  other  necessaries.  Customs  went 
on  as  usual,  without  grandeur  or  formality. 
Anything  like  a  duty  or  a  bore  the  denizens 
dodged  with  the  instinctive  zeal  with  which 
game  avoids  the  hunter.  The  bonds  and  the 
circumspection  of  society  kill  enjoyment  of 
nature  and  aptitude  for  landscape  art.  For 
the  intolerable  pastime  duties  of  town  life 
which  were   made  to   create   work  and   amuse- 


LANDSCAPE     STUDY     FOR 

•FLOWERS     PLUCKED     AND     CAST     ASIDE. 

In  the  possession  of  Sir  Alfi         '•  .    Bart, 


LIFE  AT  GREZ.  65 

merit   for  people  in   Society,  there    1-   no    room 
in  a  life  already  well  stocked  with  both." 

Such    were    the    conditions    of   life    in    Gr< 
when    Mr.    and    Mrs.    Normand    arrived    there 
in  July  of  1890.     There   was   gathered  there  a 
cosmopolitan     party    of    artists    who,    for    the 
time  being,  were  more  or  less  rabid  exponents 
of  impressionistic  art.     The  accommodation  was 
strictly    limited,   being   restricted    to  the  single 
village  inn  and   a  pension,  the  guests  of  which, 
it  was  afterwards  found,  considered  themselves, 
for  some  inscrutable  reason,  the  elect  and  select 
of   Grez.      Application   was    first    made    to    the 
pension,  but  there  was  no  room  for  them  there, 
a   fact  for   which    they   were    never    sufficiently 
thankful.     At    the    inn — Chevillon's — they   were 
lucky   enough   to  find   a  room    which    had   that 
day  been   vacated.     True,  its  door  was  lacking 
the  upper   panels — a  tribute  to  the  exuberance 
of  the    previous    tenants'    spirits — but    in    com- 
pensation its  walls   were    beautifully   decorated 
with   caricatures  in    oil,  which  were  amusing   it 
not    altogether   decent.      As    for   the   door,   the 
host  suggested  that  two  or  three  coats  hung  on 
the    inside    would  effectually  secure  privacy  for 
"  Madame."  "  Madame,"  however,  was  not  satis- 
fied until  the  gaping  breach  had  been  securely 
boarded    up.     The    incident,   and   its   lightsome 
treatment    by    the    proprietor   of   the    inn,    was 
suggestive   of  a    Bohemianism    that   was   some- 
what   appalling    in    its    freedom    even    to    Mrs. 
Normand    and  her  husband,  who  were  familiar 

E 


66  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

with  the  free  and  easy  manners  of  the  artistic 
communities  of  London  and  Paris.     The  house 
reeked  of  an  indefinable  combination  of  cheap 
caporal  and  absinthe,  and  although   easels   and 
huge  canvases  impeded  one's  progress  at  every 
step,   denoting  the  presence   of  painters,   not  a 
soul    was    visible     save     the    personnel    of    the 
establishment.       The      arrangements      for     the 
apartment     duly     settled,     an     excursion     was 
made  through  the  village.     A  few  yards  across 
the    bridge — an    object    familiarised    to    visitors 
to    art   exhibitions    of    those    days — they   were 
hailed  by  a  familiar  voice  which  emanated  from 
a   bronzed   person    in   a    Panama    hat,    shabby 
tweeds,   and   leggings,   who  proved  to  be    their 
old  friend  Mr.  Ernest  Parton.     To  their  delight 
they   found    that    he    and    his    wife    were    also 
staying   at  Chevillon's,  and  contentment  drove 
out  the  fears  raised  by  first  impressions. 

Mr.  Parton  had  then  been  living  at  Grez  for 
some  time,  and  was  evidently  the  doyen  of  the 
community  at  Chevillon's.  He  soon  initiated 
the  new-comers  into  the  mysteries  of  life  as 
they  existed  at  Grez — curious,  almost  weird, 
in  their  cosmopolitan  range.  Here  were 
gathered  artists  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth, 
all  eagerly  industrious  in  the  search  for  and 
interpretation  of  beauty  in  nature.  Frenchmen, 
Englishmen,  Americans,  Danes,  Swedes,  and 
Japanese,  of  which  last  there  were  three  repre- 
sentatives. So  long  as  there  was  daylight  the 
company   was  dispersed  in   the  neighbourhood, 


FLOWERS     PLUCKED     AND     CAST     ASIDE. 
In    the  possession  of  J.    Schulz,    Esq.,    Moscow. 


LIFE  AT  GREZ.  67 

busily  engaged  on  their  painting,  but  when  the 

twilight  shadows  eclipsed  the  last  of  the  suns 
afterglow  easels  and  canvases   were  shouldered 

and  all  paths  converged  on  Chevillon's.  Tl 
painting  paraphernalia  was  stowed  away  and 
the  usual  preliminaries  of  dinner  observed — an 
absinthe  and  a  plunge  in  the  river,  which  ran 
at  the  bottom  of  the  garden.  Dinner  was  served 
at  a  long  table  under  the  lime  trees  in  a  manner 
as  unconventional  as  the  general  habits  of  those 
who  partook  of  it.  The  men  sat  down  for  the 
most  part  without  coats  or  waistcoats,  and 
during  the  intervals — for  the  serving  was  not 
so  prompt  as  the  appetites  of  the  diners  would 
wish — the  whole  company  smoked  furiously. 
At  their  first  meal  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  crowd,  and  under 
the  introduction  of  Parton  were  warmly  wel- 
comed. On  their  part  they  found  this  curious 
company  as  clever  and  amusing  as  it  was 
cosmopolitan.  The  freemasonry  of  art  broke 
down  every  international  barrier,  and  all  were  on 
terms  of  true  "liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity." 
After  dinner  there  was  a  dispersal.  Some 
wandered  in  the  moonlight  by  the  river ;  for 
others  there  was  music — of  a  sort — on  an 
ancient  and  discordant  piano,  with  songs  in 
divers  tongues,  uproarious  and  hilarious.  To 
these  evening  recreations  came  some  of  the 
guests  of  the  pension  whose  preferences  w< 
for  conviviality  rather  than  the  select  conven- 
tionalities of  their  own   establishment.     It   v. 


68  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

all  delightfully  irresponsible  —  everyone  was 
light-hearted,  gay  and  joyous.  There  certainly 
were  undercurrents  of  seriousness,  of  earnest 
sober  thought,  of  pathos  and  tragedy  even, 
but  superficially  all  was  smooth  and  unruffled 
joie  de  vivre.  R.  A.  M.  Stevenson  has  recorded 
this  aspect  of  the  grey  colouring  far  better 
than  anyone  else  can  hope  to  do,  and  I 
make  no  excuse  for  quoting  further  from  his 
article :  "  It  is  by  no  means  my  object,"  he 
says,  "  to  describe  the  life  of  the  French 
painting  colonies  where  more  than  half  of  the 
ideals  of  the  nineteenth  century  have  been 
hatched.  English  people  would  condemn  the 
manners  without  understanding  the  qualities 
or  sympathising  with  the  purposes  of  such  a 
society.  A  whole  theory  of  life  would  be 
necessary  before  I  could  venture  to  be  honest ; 
and  honesty  was  virtue  in  those  places.  Hy- 
pocrisy scarcely  recommended  itself  to  men 
whose  mental  work  lay  in  facing  their  own 
impressions  of  things  and  accepting  their  con- 
sequences in  Art.  Many  writers  could  tell 
you  that  they  found  those  colonies  as  fitted 
for  the  study  of  the  human  heart  as  for  that 
of  trees  and  rocks.  You  saw  the  very  bones 
and  muscles  of  the  passions  laid  bare.  But 
such  anatomy  disgusts  the  true  Englishman. 
He  dislikes  this  want  of  reserve  no  less  than 
the  old  woman  who  said :  '  Don't  tell  Mary 
Jane  about  her  inside — it  does  her  no  good ; 
besides,  it's  rude.'  " 


LIFE  AT  GREZ.  69 

The  morning  saw  the  frivolity  of  the  even- 
ing banished  for  the  time  being  from  the 
mind,  for  the  day  was  for  work  ;  and  work, 
after  all,  was  the  chief  object  of  the  com- 
munity. The  influence  of  impressionism  was 
then  rampant  in  France ;  the  exponents  of 
landscape  art  delighted  in  shadows  of  won- 
derful purple  or  violet  hues,  which  stretched 
across  their  canvases  with  extraordinary  uni- 
formity, and  Mrs.  Normand  says  that  even 
on  grey  days  some  of  these  painters  of  Grez 
still  saw  these  same  violet  shadows — so  en- 
amoured were  they  of  their  new  truths  in  art. 
The  figure  painters,  too,  worked  en  plein  air, 
and  they,  also,  were  imbued  with  the  purple 
shadow  theory,  which  they  found  still  more 
difficult  of  consistent  application.  The  three 
Japanese  went  utterly  to  grief  in  attempting 
to  assimilate  this  latest  phase  of  Western  art. 
They  had  a  local  girl  model  to  themselves 
whom  they  posed  under  a  tree,  and  steadily 
worked  away  all  day  at  the  solution  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  vibration  of  atmosphere  and 
light.  Utterly  oblivious  of  the  fact  of  the 
sun's  transit  from  East  to  West,  shadows 
had  no  part  nor  lot  in  their  productions. 
The  studies  usually  developed  into  mere  flat 
map-like  drawings,  the  sole  charm  of  which  was 
the  decorative  quality  inherent  to  their  native 
art,  which  still  managed  to  assert  itself.  To  Mrs. 
Normand  it  was  a  continuous  puzzle  why  they 
had  a  model  at  all,  for  they  always  represented 


70  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

her  with  almond  eyes  and  a  face  of  pronounced 
Japanese  type.  The  only  explanation  that 
offered  itself  to  her  in  relation  to  the  matter 
was  that  they  adopted  this  method  of  improving 
their  French  by  getting  the  model  to  talk  rather 
than  pose. 

It  was  under  these  conditions  and  amid 
such  surroundings  that  the  summer  was  spent. 
Mrs.  Normand  early  fell  under  the  prevalent 
spell  of  Monet,  and  became  a  proficient  ex- 
ponent of  the  impressionistic  principles.  Her  old 
love  of  landscape  re-asserted  itself,  and  emu- 
lating the  example  of  the  painters  around 
her  she  produced  many  sketches  in  their 
methods,  with  purple  and  violet  shadows 
that  ranked  with  the  best  of  them.  Her 
less  impressionable  husband  was  almost  proof 
against  such  influences,  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  discuss  the  exaggerated  tendencies  of  the 
theorists  with  them  after  the  evening  meal. 
That  such  discussions  were  by  no  means 
dull  can  readily  be  imagined. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  worked  here  all 
through  the  remainder  of  the  summer  and 
autumn,  and  found  it  difficult  to  sever  them- 
selves from  the  charm  of  the  place.  The 
colony  was  continually  changing  its  constituents, 
men  went  and  came,  and  the  interest  never 
slackened.  Friendships  were  formed  that  have 
stood  the  test  of  time,  and  antipathies  devel- 
oped that  have  proved  as  undying. 

It   was  the  recognised  custom  at  Chevillon's 


MEMORIES. 

iwssession  of  J.   Stewart,   Esq.,    t 


LIFE  AT  GREZ.  71 

that  before  a  man  went  away  he  should  (ill  a 
panel  on  the  dining-room  wall  with  a  specirm  1 
of  his  work.  Many  well-known  names  arc  re- 
presented there  to  this  day,  and  many  oth< 
are  now  represented  where  the  owners  never 
intended  them  to  be.  The  panels  of  that 
room  are  never  all  filled;  "mine  host"  h 
always  a  spare  one  or  two,  no  matter  how 
many  may  be  the  number  of  artists  staying 
under  his  roof. 

It  was  just  such  an  exhibition  of  the 
anatomy  of  passion  referred  to  by  Stevenson 
that  broke  up  the  particular  colony  to  which 
the  Normands  belonged.  A  tragedy,  peculiarly 
French  in  its  concomitants — an  adventuress, 
a  young  man  ensnared,  a  life  ruined,  a  pale 
drowned  corpse  in  an  outhouse,  the  cries  of 
distraught  parents,  the  horror  of  funeral  cere- 
monials. It  all  weighed  on  the  souls  of  the 
community,  its  terror  overshadowed  the  place, 
and  the  hearts  that  had  been  so  light  and 
jovial  were  filled  with  depression  and  gloom. 
One  by  one  the  men  packed  their  belongings 
and  went  their  various  ways,  silently  and 
thoughtfully,  with  this  memory  of  the  realism 
of  life — and  death — to  temper  the  pleasant 
recollections  of  their  stay  at  Grez. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  returned  to  London, 
and  once  more  took  possession  of  their  house 
in  Holland  Park  Road.  There  was  much  to 
show  to  their  friends,  and  more  to  talk  about. 
Their   experiences    were    full    of    interest,    and 


72  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

none  more  so  than  those  relative  to  the  im- 
pressionistic craze.  Mrs.  Normand's  sketches 
were  shown,  and  provoked  a  violent  protest  from 
Leighton  against  such  perversions  of  nature 
and  truth.  Needless  to  say  the  matter  had 
not  been  taken  seriously  by  Mrs.  Normand: 
she  had  yielded — almost  irresistibly — to  the 
influence  of  the  enthusiastic  exuonents  of  im- 
pressionism  at  Grez :  she  had  found  the 
practice  pleasant  and  recreative — and,  after  all, 
there  was  some  truth  in  the  theory,  albeit  it 
was  magnified  out  of  all  proportion  by  its 
extremist  supporters. 

•  •••  »  •  •  • 

As  a  footnote  to  the  experiences  of  Grez, 
Mr.  Normand  has  written  to  me  to  say : 
"  Years  after,  in  Paris,  I  told  a  friend  that  I 
would  introduce  him  to  a  painting  camp  that 
would  amuse  him,  for  I  doubted  not  that  we 
should  find  another  generation  afoot  there. 
The  same  wily  host  met  us,  and  remembered 
my  wife  and  myself.  Ernestine,  the  maid,  and 
Paul,  the  groom,  were  still  there,  but  never  an 
easel  was  to  be  seen.  The  outhouse  was  a 
bicycle-repairing  shop,  and  the  yard  was  full 
of  cycle  racks.  The  village  was  on  the  direct 
road  from  Paris  to  Nemours,  and  the  votaries 
of  the  wheel  had  driven  the  painters  away  to 
1  fresh  woods  and  pastures  new.'  " 


<        E 


73 


CHAPTER    VII. 

i 891-1894. 

"  La  Cigale  "  ;  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lamp  "  ; 
"  Mariana  "  ;  "  Flowers  Plucked  and 
Cast  Aside";  Removal  to  Norwood; 
"  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of  Venus." 

THE  first  picture  undertaken  after  the  return 
from  Paris  was  "  La  Cigale,"  a  subject 
taken  from  La  Fontaine's  fable.  All  the 
summer,  through  the  sunshiny  days  and  balmy 
nights,  "  La  Cigale,"  the  grasshopper,  had  sung 
and  sported,  taking  no  heed  to  the  morrow  with 
its  inevitable  change  of  season.  When  the 
chill  winds  of  autumn  blew  poor  "  Cigale  "  was 
driven  to  seek  shelter  and  aid  from  her  indus- 
trious neighbour,  the  ant,  who  had  utilised  the 
long  summer  days  to  the  laying  up  of  stores  for 
the  winter.  Prudence  reproaches  folly  and  refuses 
assistance,  and  "  La  Cigale  "  has  to  find  what 
comfort  and  shelter  she  can  in  the  dry  autumn 
leaves  under  the  bare  trees,  until  the  cold  hand 
of  winter  grips  her  and  extinguishes  the  remain- 
ing sparks  of  life.  "  La  Cigale,"  thoughtless, 
frivolous,  foolish,  crouches  close  to  the  tree  in 
her  effort  to  find  shelter  from  the  cold  breath  of 


74  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

the  autumn  evening;  the  setting  sun  is  rapidly 
closing  down  its  blaze  of  splendour,  and  soon 
the  grey  shadows  will  fold  around  the  luckless 
minstrel,   and   darksome  night   engulf  her. 

In  this  picture  full  effect  was  given  to  the 
experience  gained  at  Paris  and  Grez,  both  in 
drawing  and  colour.  Whereas  in  all  the  pic- 
tures hitherto  painted  by  Mrs.  Normand  the 
figures  had  been  more  or  less  "  edgy,"  there 
was  exhibited  in  "  La  Cigale "  a  determined 
effort  to  avoid  this  quality.  The  delicately 
painted  figure  is  rounded  off  into  the  back- 
ground with  no  suggestion  of  defined  outline. 
This  meant  working  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
teaching  of  Leighton,  who  insisted  that  all 
figures  in  nature  had  a  certain  amount  of 
"edge,"  and  that  this  should  be  represented  in 
painting.  It  is  a  difficult  question — one  entirely 
for  experts  to  settle,  if  there  be  a  settlement 
to  it.  But  Leighton  was  irate  with  "  La 
Cigale "  because  of  its  lack  of  "  edge."  The 
autumn  leaves  on  which  the  figure  is  seated, 
and  with  which  the  foreground  is  strewn,  were 
the  outcome  of  much  time  and  labour  on  the 
part  of  the  artist.  They  are  painted  crisp  and 
sharp  on  the  canvas,  with  well  defined  edges 
such  as  are  seen  in  their  natural  prototypes. 
To  Leighton  these  appealed  with  great  force, 
and  as  he  stooped  to  examine  them  closely 
he  exclaimed,  "  Why  paint  these  leaves  so 
crisply,  and  deny  all  edge  to  the  figure  ?  ' 

The  picture  was  accepted  for  the  Academy 


V) 

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5   .o 


"LA   cic.il:  75 

Exhibition  of  1891,  and  once  again  the  artist 
was  gratified  by  seeing  her  work  occupy  "  a 
centre"  on  the  line.  "  La  Cigale "  afforded 
sufficient  evidence  that  the  fears  of  the  previous 
year  were  groundless,  but  also  that  the  course 
of  tuition  which  the  fears  had  dictated  had 
been  extremely  beneficial.  The  work  was 
stronger  in  every  respect,  the  outcome  of 
widened  thought  and  experience.  Congratu- 
lations were  showered  upon  the  artist,  and  none 
were  more  welcome  than  those  of  Sir  John 
Millais,  who  in  praising  the  picture  said,  "  I 
would  give  my  left  hand  to  be  able  to  paint 
flesh  like  that." 

Both  the  picture  and  the  copyright  of 
"  La  Cigale "  were  sold,  and  at  the  Inter- 
national Exhibition  at  Paris  of  1899  this 
work  secured  for  the  artist  another  Honour- 
able Mention. 

In  1891,  too,  "  Day- Dreams,"  a  small 
figure-subject,  was  shown  at  the  Institute  of 
Painters  in  Oil  Colours,  and  "  The  Lady  of 
the  Lamp  "  was  painted  for  Messrs.  Cassell  and 
Company.  It  was  commissioned  for  repro- 
duction by  chromo-lithography  in  connection 
with  Yulc-Tidc,  Messrs.  Cassell's  Christmas 
annual.  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lamp '  was 
Florence  Nightingale  going  her  round  by 
night  among  the  wounded  in  the  hospital  at 
Scutari. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-two  was  not 
an    important  year    from    the   point   of  view  of 


76  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

exhibits,  for  it  was  then  that  was  commenced 
the  chef  d'ceuvre — "  Psyche  before  the  Throne 
of  Venus " — and  smaller  works  were  put  in 
hand  to  afford  relief  from  the  great  labour 
that  attached  to  this  important  canvas.  At 
the  Academy  Mrs.  Normand  was  represented 
by  "  Mariana,"  she  of  the  "  Moated  Grange," 
of  whom  Tennyson  sang  : 

"  She  only  said,  '  My  life  is  dreary, 
He  cometh  not,'  she  said  ; 
She  said,  '  I  am  aweary,  aweary, 
I  would  that  I  were  dead.' " 

At  the  Institute  of  that  year  was  hung 
"  Memories,"  a  study  of  artificial  light,  which 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Stewart,  of  Paisley. 

In  1893  a  daughter  was  born,  and  work 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  year  was  conse- 
quently not  very  great  in  extent.  At  the 
Academy  there  was  "Flowers  Plucked  and  Cast 
Aside,"  in  which  almost  as  much  importance 
attached  to  the  landscape  as  to  the  figure.  At 
the  New  Gallery  Mrs.  Normand  was  repre- 
sented by  one  of  the  several  studies  entitled 
"  Spring,"  and  at  the  Institute  by  the  charming 
little  "  Apple  Blossom,"  which  is  here  illus- 
trated. In  this  year,  too,  a  return  was  made 
to  portraiture,  the  subject  being  Mr.  Marcus 
Davis. 

"  Flowers  Plucked  and  Cast  Aside "  was 
afterwards  sent  to  Moscow  to  an  exhibition  of 
English  art,  and  was  'purchased  there  by  Mr. 
John  Schulz. 


PANDORA. 

//i   the  possession   of  C.    Bjwring,    Esq. 


REMOVAL    TO   NORWOOD.  ;: 

The   most     important    event    of    the    year, 

however,  was  the  removal  from  Holland  Park 
Road.  An  offer  had  been  made  by  Mr. 
Normand's  father  to  build  them  a  studio  in 
the  garden  of  his  house,  "  Aucklands,"  at 
Norwood,  if  they  would  go  to  live  near  him. 
The  removal  meant  the  severance  of  many 
pleasant  associations,  and  the  discontinuance 
of  the  critical  visits  of  their  academic  neigh- 
bours and  friends.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
latter  objection  was  one  of  the  strongest 
appeals  in  favour  of  the  removal.  Criticism 
and  advice  were  good  and  welcome  aids  to 
work,  but  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  felt 
that  they  would  now  like  to  "  run  alone,"  and 
paint  their  pictures  free  from  external  in- 
fluence. It  was  not  inappreciation  of  the 
kindness  of  their  friends,  but  merely  the  desire 
for  independent  action.  They  felt  that  the 
influence  of  Kensington  was  becoming  stronger 
than  was  good  for  them,  and  that  it  would 
be  better  for  them  to  shake  it  off  before  it 
fettered  them  in  mannerisms. 

The  new  studio  was  to  include  a  glass 
house,  in  which  "  open  air "  effects  could  be 
secured,  an  innovation  in  artistic  requirements 
which  was  then  greatly  in  demand — much  to 
the  amusement  of  the  older  artists,  who  could 
not  see  the  necessity  for  anything  more  than 
the  ordinary  top-lighted  studio.  But  the  in- 
fluence of  the  French  plein  air  school  was 
rapidly    extending,    and     next     to     completely 


78  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

working  in  the  open,  the  glass  studio  afforded 
the  best  opportunity  to  follow  its  principles. 
For  "  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of  Venus  "  it 
was  a  necessity,  and  this,  with  the  considera- 
tions already  mentioned,  decided  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  removal. 

In  the  autumn  of  1893,  too,  Mrs.  Normand 
had  the  unique  experience  of  being  asked  to 
serve  as  a  "  hanger  "  at  the  autumn  exhibition 
of  the  Liverpool  Corporation  Art  Galleries. 
The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  a  record 
created,  for  it  was  the  first  occasion  on  which 
a  woman  had  served  on  the  Hanging  Com- 
mittee of  an  important  public  art  exhibition. 
The  fact  aroused  much  interest  at  the  time 
in  Liverpool,  and  Mrs.  Normand  was  feted  by 
the  various  artistic  bodies  of  the  city.  At  a 
dinner  of  the  Artists'  Society  a  speech  was 
demanded  of  her  by  the  assembled  company, 
a  demand  that  was  good  humouredly  insisted 
upon  in  spite  of  her  evident  anxiety  to  be 
excused.  At  length,  in  response  to  the  con- 
tinuous call,  she  stood  up,  and  managed  to 
express,  in  faltering  tones,  the  conviction  that 
"  this  is  the  happiest  moment  of  my  life,"  a 
statement  that  was  so  utterly  at  variance  with 
her  looks  that  it  secured  for  her  the  compas- 
sion of  the  company,  and  she  resumed  her 
seat  amidst  laughter  and  applause. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  the  "  hangers  "  at  the 
Liverpool  Exhibition  to  act  also  as  advisers 
to    the    Purchasing    Committee    of  the  gallery, 


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"PSYCHE." 

and  it  was  owing  to  the  suggestion  of  Mrs. 
Normancl  and  her  fellow-hanger,  Mr.  David 
Murray,  R.A.,  that  the  picture  "  The  Punish- 
ment of  Luxury,"  by  that  extraordinary  genius 
Giovanni  Segantini,  was  acquired  for  the  per- 
manent collection  of  the  gallery.  Segantini's 
work  was  not  very  well  known  in  England  in 
those  days,  and  the  recommendation  to  pur- 
chase this  example  was  somewhat  of  a  surprise 
to  the  committee ;  but  the  actual  purchase  of 
the  picture  was  greeted  with  a  storm  of 
protest  by  certain  of  the  Liverpool  public. 
As  the  years  went  by,  and  the  reputation  of 
the  artist  increased,  it  was  recognised  that 
Liverpool  had  done  the  right  thing  in  securing 
the  picture,  and  the  acumen  of  its  repre- 
sentatives in  so  doing  became  matter  of 
congratulation. 

The  next  year — 1894 — witnessed  the  com- 
pletion of  "  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of 
Venus,"  and  its  triumphant  exhibition  at 
Burlington  House.  The  picture  in  point  of 
composition  and  dimensions  was  the  most  im- 
portant work  of  Mrs.  Normand's  life.  It  was 
commenced  in  1892  when  the  artist  was  Living 
in  Holland  Park  Road,  and  its  size — ten  feet 
by  six  feet  four  inches — precluded  the  possibility 
of  its  being  executed  in  her  own  studio.  Sir 
William  Richmond  came  to  the  rescue  and 
offered  the  loan  of  his  studio,  which  was  close 
at  hand ;  the  offer  was  gratefully  accepted, 
and   the   earlv  work    on    the    canvas    was    done 


80  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

there.  The  glass-house  of  the  Norwood  studio 
was  built  specially  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  artist  in  the  painting  of  this  picture. 
It  was  so  constructed  that  one  end  fitted  in 
under  the  spreading  branches  of  some  fine 
trees  in  the  garden  of  "  Aucklands "  through 
the  foliage  of  which  the  sunlight  filtered 
to  the  studio  below.  In  this  tempered  light 
the  models  were  posed  and  the  direct  effect 
obtained  that  was  required  by  the  artist. 

The  picture  contains  no  fewer  than  four- 
teen figures,  of  which  Venus  and  Psyche  form 
the  central  interest.  In  her  return  to  classic 
themes  Mrs.  Normand  chose  the  prettiest  of 
the  myths  for  treatment.  The  story  of  Cupid 
and  Psyche — with  its  beauty,  pathos,  and 
drama — is  always  fascinating,  and  has  afforded 
"  present-day  interest "  through  all  the  ages. 
Psyche's  love  and  distrust  of  Cupid  ;  her  dis- 
obedience and  loss  of  him ;  her  wanderings  in 
search  of  him,  and  the  treatment  of  her  by 
her  rival  Venus,  constitute  the  most  charm- 
ing theme  of  Greek  mythology  and  an  allegory 
of  life  for  all  time.  For  the  purposes  of  her 
picture  Mrs.  Normand  had  recourse  to  William 
Morris's  version  of  the  story  as  recounted  in 
his  "  Earthly  Paradise."  Psyche  with  many 
sufferings  has  searched  in  vain  for  her  love, 
and  has  come  by  evil  chance  upon  the  Court 
of  Venus.  Hidden  by  the  trees  she  watches 
the  maidens  of  the  Court  at  their  sports 
when — 


53 


tr      ? 
uj      ; 

C/5       ^ 


"PSYCHE."  8i 

"From  her  lip~>  unwitting  came  a  moan, 

She  fell  strong  arms  about  her  body  thrown 
And,  blind  with  fear,  was  haled  along  till  :-he 
Saw  floating  by  her  faint  eyes  dizzily 

That  vision  of  the  pearls  and  roses  fresh, 
The  golden  carpet  and  the  rosy  flesh. 

"Then,  as  in  vain  she  strove  to  make  some  sound, 
A  sweet  voice  seemed  to  pierce  the  air  around 
With  bitter  words;  her  doom  rang  in  her  ears, 
She  felt  the  misery  that  lacketh  tears. 
1  Come  hither,  damsels,  and  the  pearl  behold 
That  hath  no  price.     See  now  the  thrice-tried  gold 
That  all  men  worshipped,  that  a  god  would  have 
To  be  his  bride  !  how  like  a  wretched  slave 
She  cowers  down,  and  lacketh  even  voice 
To  plead  her  cause  !      Come,  damsels,  and  rejoice 
That  now  once  more  the  waiting  world  will  move 
Since  she  is  found,  the  well-loved  soul  of  Love.'  " 

*  ♦  *  *  *  * 

"  '  Oh,  thou  fool,  I  will  not  let  thee  die  ; 
But  thou  shalt  reap  the  harvest  thou  hast  sown 
And  many  a  day  thy  wretched  lot  bemoan. 
Thou  art  my  slave,  and  not  a  da)-  shall  be 
But  I  will  find  some  fitting  task  for  thee.'  " 

The  picture  was  brought  to  town  for 
"  Show  Sunday,"  and  among  the  many  in- 
terested callers  none  was  more  interested 
than  Leighton.  He  had  seen  its  commence- 
ment, but  after  its  removal  to  Norwood  did 
not  see  it  again  until  it  was  presented  ready 
for  exhibition.  His  praises  were  many,  but  to 
the  artist's  great  disappointment  they  were 
all  discounted  in  her  estimation  by  his  final 
criticism  "  that  it  had  a  tendency  to  prettiness 
of  which  he  could  not  approve." 

F 


82  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

Mr.  George  McCulloch,  who  had  already 
practically  purchased  the  picture,  came  in  to 
see  it  immediately  after  Leighton  had  left, 
and  hearing  that  the  President  had  been,  he 
asked  Mrs.  Normand  what  he  had  said  of  the 
picture.  With  the  disappointment  still  keen 
within  her  she  unthinkingly  repeated  the  whole 
of  Leighton's  criticism.  This  indiscretion  came 
to  Leighton's  ears,  and  the  administration  of  a 
lecture  to  Mrs.  Normand  duly  followed  on  the 
sanctity  of  friendly  criticism  between  artists. 
For  the  avoidance  of  any  misconception  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  McCulloch,  that  might  have 
arisen  from  his  remarks  upon  the  picture, 
Leighton  at  once  wrote  a  letter,  from  which, 
by  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  McCulloch,  we  are 
enabled  to  reproduce  the    following  extract : 

"  Let  me  seize  this  opportunity  of  saying  how  sincerely 
pleased  I  am  to  hear  that  you  have  bought  Mrs.  Normand's 
charming  picture.  Mrs.  N.  is  full  of  talent,  and  a  most 
enthusiastic  artist — but  she  is  given  to  self-depreciation 
(a  very  rare  attribute) — and  the  purchase  of  so  important 
an  effort  is  a  great  and  merited  encouragement  to  her." 

The  picture  was  given  a  "  centre "  at  the 
Academy  and  was  one  of  the  chief  features 
of  the  exhibition.  The  following  appreciative 
remarks  upon  it  by  Mr.  M.  H.  Spielmann  ap- 
peared in  the  Magazine  of  Art:  "  Miss  Henrietta 
Rae  contributes  a  large  canvas  of  '  Psyche 
before  the  Throne  of  Venus '  which  is  very 
remarkable  in  its  conception  and  execution. 
This  elaborate  composition,   full  without  being 


ROSES     OF     YOUTH. 


By  Permission   of  Messrs.    E.    W.    Savory,    Ltd., 
Owners  of  the   Copyright. 


"PSYCHE." 

crowded,  graceful  in  the  drawing  of  its  figures, 
dainty  in  its  appreciation  of  feminine  beauty, 
delicate  in  its  tones  and  tints,  is  a  work  we 
hardly  expected  from  a  woman.  But  we 
instinctively  feel  that  the  painter  has  never 
quite  grasped  the  greatness  of  this  scene  of 
classic  mythology — the  figures,  with  all  their 
charm,  are  not  inhabitants  of  Olympos,  but 
denizens  of  an  ungodly  earth." 

Of  course,  it  could  easily  be  urged  in  reply 
to  the  latter  part  of  these  remarks  that  the 
passions  relative  to  these  "  inhabitants  of 
Olympos  "  are  so  distinctly  human  that  there 
cannot  be  very  great  error  in  representing  their 
possessors  in  human  form.  Venus  and  Psyche 
were  so  undoubtedly  feminine  in  character  and 
disposition,  the  one  in  her  queenly  beauty  and 
spiteful  pleasantries  and  the  other  in  her 
abject  love  and  woe  of  heartbreak,  that  their 
portraiture  as  women  seems  a  positive  neces- 
sity for  their  proper  representation. 

The  following  extract  from  the  Daily  News 
may  serve  as  a  typical  example  of  the  many 
other  references  in  the  press  to  the  picture  : 

"  Mr.  William  Morris  has  made  the  legend 
the  subject  of  a  beautiful  poem,  and  Mrs. 
Normand  of  an  ambitious  composition.  It 
is  a  large  canvas  with  many  figures  skilfully 
grouped,  and  the  courage  of  the  painter  in 
attempting  such  a  task  has  been  justified  by 
her  success.  She  shows  us  the  goddess  seated 
on    her   classical  golden    throne,    beautiful    and 


84  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

unadorned,  all  her  loveliness  displayed,  the 
draperies  carelessly  thrown  over  the  seat  set 
upon  the  throne  of  her  temple.  White  Parian 
columns  support  its  dome,  and  the  steps  of 
the  cool  marble  pavement  lead  down  to  the 
rich  growing  grass  of  the  enclosure.  Her 
maidens  are  around  her  in  groups,  and  no 
part  of  the  picture  is  more  successful  than 
the  treatment  of  these  groups.  The  group 
to  the  left  is  especially  happy  in  arrangement. 
Tall,  graceful  figures,  their  draperies  pale  blue 
and  low-toned  powdered  purple,  making  such 
agreeable  harmony  with  the  full  rose  of  the 
oleander  blooms,  assisted  by  a  passage  of 
orchid  purple,  where  a  piece  of  some  over- 
garment rests  on  the  marble  steps  ;  even  the 
dove — not  the  white  pigeon  of  the  classic 
writers — finds  excuse  for  its  soft  colour  in 
the  harmony  of  the  whole  scheme.  The  faces 
are  beautiful,  varied,  and  not  too  remote  from 
the  Greek  ideal.  But  to  the  right  of  the 
throne,  on  the  green  sward,  is  another  group 
of  maidens,  also  picturesque,  attendant  on  the 
goddess ;  they,  indeed,  have  some  employment 
for  their  lazy  loveliness.  Poor  Psyche,  straying 
into  the  midst  of  all  this  beauty,  and  over- 
powered by  it,  as  she  well  may  be,  has  fallen 
prostrate  at  the  very  steps  of  the  shrine  ;  her 
arms  just  rest  on  the  marble  ledge,  as  if 
she  dared  not  approach  nearer.  Venus  con- 
templates her  with  the  easy  indifference  of 
a   goddess,  and  the    maidens   standing  by   her, 


HER     EYES     ARE     HOMES     OF     SILENT     PRAYER. 


By   Permission  of  Messrs.    E.    W.   Savory,    Ltd., 
Owners  of  the   Copyright. 


"  pandora:' 

picturesquely  grouped,  and  not  unconscious 
of  their   beauty   in  their   clinging  draperies   of 

yellow  and  amber,  and  salmon  red,  have  an 
interest  in  the  penitent  that  is  undisturbed 
by  pity.  In  the  background  the  turf  stretches 
away  under  the  shade  of  low  growing  trees ; 
and  a  bronze  door,  dimly  seen  through  the 
open,  shows  how  Psyche  gained  her  access  to 
the  shrine." 

The  picture  went  to  Liverpool  from 
the  Academy,  and  after  the  exhibition  at  the 
Dore  Gallery,  to  which  reference  will  presently 
be  made,  passed  into  the  collection  of  Mr. 
McCulloch  at  Queen's  Gate.  A  large  photo- 
gravure reproduction,  published  by  Messrs. 
Tooth,  served  to  make  the  picture  still  more 
widely  known. 

There  was  but  one  other  work  by 
Mrs.  Normand  on  exhibition  in  1894 — the 
"  Pandora  " — which  was  shown  at  the  New 
Gallery,  and  which  is  illustrated  herewith. 


86 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

1895-1896. 

Exhibition  at  the  Dore  Gallery  ;  "  Apollo 
and  Daphne  "  ;  "  Summer  "  ;  Visit  to  Italy. 

IT  was  usual  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  to 
spend  part  of  each  summer  at  Scarborough, 
and  during  one  of  their  visits  they  had  been 
introduced  to  Mr.  George  Lord  Beeforth,  the 
proprietor  of  the  Dore  Gallery  in  Bond  Street, 
who  had  made  his  residence  in  the  Yorkshire 
coast  town.  The  acquaintance  developed  into 
an  intimate  friendship.  In  1895  he  com- 
missioned Mrs.  Normand  to  paint  his  portrait 
in  his  official  costume  as  Mayor  of  Scarborough, 
and  suggested  to  her  husband  the  desirability 
of  their  having  an  exhibition  of  their  collected 
works.  To  make  the  suggestion  a  practicable 
one  he  offered  them  the  use  of  the  Dore  Gallery 
for  the  unexpired  term  of  his  lease  on  con- 
ditions that  contained  no  risks  for  them,  but 
included  a  share  of  any  profits  that  might 
accrue  from  the  undertaking.  The  offer  was 
immediately  accepted,  and  the  various  works 
collected  from  the  owners.  These  included 
most    of    the    important    exhibited    pictures   of 


G.     L.     BEE  FORTH.     ESQ. 


EXHIBITION  AT  THE  DORK   GALLERY.    87 

both  artists,   numbering   in   all  eighteen,   elev< 
of  which  were  by  Mrs.   Normand. 

It  was  decided  at  first  to  keep  the  two 
sets  of  pictures  distinct  and  separate,  but 
when  they  were  hung  it  was  found  that  the 
arrangement  was  not  at  all  satisfactory.  Mr. 
Normand  in  several  of  his  pictures  had  in- 
troduced a  floor  of  marked  geometric  design, 
and  in  this  preliminary  hanging  these  all  came 
together.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  he  and  his 
wife  had  been  in  the  habit  of  working  each 
at  one  end  of  their  studio  was  revealed  to 
them  forcibly  in  this  collection  of  their  works, 
for  they  found  that  each  had  adhered  to  one 
scheme  of  lighting  all  through  the  series — a 
scheme  dictated  by  their  particular  position 
in  the  studio.  The  hanging  was,  therefore, 
all  re-done ;  the  works  of  the  two  artists  were 
arranged  together,  and  harmony  and  balance- 
thereby  secured. 

The  exhibition  remained  open  for  nine 
months,  and  materially  assisted  to  familiarise 
the  public  with  Mrs.  Normand's  work.  It 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  judging  her  work 
and  its  development  in  a  manner  which  had 
not  before  been  possible. 

Lord  Leighton's  criticism  as  to  the  "  pretti- 
ness "  of  the  "Psyche"  led  Mrs.  Normand 
to  a  determination  to  do  something  really 
"strong";  the  outcome  of  which  was  the 
"  Apollo  and  Daphne  "  of  the  1895  Academy 
— a    picture    which    she    now    regards    as    her 


88  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

greatest  and  most  dismal  failure.  Indeed, 
it  is  a  question  if  she  ever  did  regard 
it  with  any  feeling  of  pleasure  and  satisfac- 
tion. Any  doubts  she  may  have  had  re- 
garding it  were  confirmed  when  the  picture 
was  on  "  show "  previous  to  sending-in  day. 
Once  again  it  was  Leighton  who  was  to 
administer  the  corrective.  The  first  glance 
at  the  picture  made  him  exclaim,  "  That  won't 
do  for  Apollo !  Those  arms  are  not  like 
Apollo's !     You  want    a    strong    man's !     Here, 

,"  turning  to  a  friend  who  was  with   them, 

"you  are  an  athlete;  just  show  them  what 
a  strong  man's  arms  are  like."  The  young 
man  at  first  demurred,  but  at  length  con- 
sented to  adopt  the  pose  of  "Apollo,"  and 
exhibit  his  muscles.  At  Leighton's  suggestion 
Mrs.  Normand  repainted  the  arms  there  and 
then — on  "  Show  Sunday  " — but  the  picture 
never  came  right.  It  lacked  spontaneity  and 
was  too  evidently  "  forced  "  to  be  successful. 

On  varnishing  day  Sir  John  Millais  was 
quite  depressed  with  the  picture,  and  reproved 
the  artist  in  his  kindly,  blunt  manner. 

"  My  dear,"  he  said,  "  why  did  you  paint 
that  ?  It's  a  very  bad  picture ;  a  very  bad 
picture ;  a  very  bad  picture.  You  stick  to 
your  own  line ;  don't  be  influenced  by  others, 
but  paint  as  Nature   intended  you  to  paint." 

The  chastisement  was  continued  in  the 
press,  and  the  comments  may  be  represented 
by  that  of  the  Art  Journal:  "Mrs.  Normand's 


AZALEAS. 


By    Permission   of  Marcus   Davis,    Esq., 
Owner  of  the   Picture   and   Copyright. 


"SUMMER."  S,j 

touch  is  nice  and  colour  sweet  ;  hut  when 
she  comes  to  such  a  subject  as  'Apollo  and 
Daphne,'  she  very  nearly  breaks  down.  Her 
Daphne  is  expressionless,  and  her  school-boy 
Apollo   wants    muscle." 

Altogether,  then,  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  in  her  effort  to  be  "  strong  "  Mrs.  Normand 
did  not  do  herself  justice  ;  it  was  not  that 
she  attempted  to  do  something  beyond  her 
power,  but  that  the  obsession  of  the  inordinate 
desire  to  display  strength  hindered  her  faculties  ; 
led  her,  to  use  Sir  John  Millais's  words,  off 
"  her  own  line,"  and  instead  of  strength  there 
was  a  display  of  weakness  which  was  quite 
foreign  to  her  usual  work. 

At  the  New  Gallery  of  1895  Mrs.  Normand 
was  represented  by  two  ideal  heads,  "  Edie  " 
and  "Azaleas,"  the  latter  of  which  we  are 
enabled  to  reproduce  in  colour,  by  the  courtesy 
of  its  owner,   Mr.  Marcus   Davis. 

"  Summer,"  which  wras  shown  at  the 
Academy  in  the  following  year,  was  a  frank 
study  of  the  nude,  and  exhibited  to  the 
full  the  artist's  skill  in  drawing  and  flesh 
painting.  This  fair  personification  of  "  Sum- 
mer," recumbent  amid  a  bower  of  roses,  is 
without  doubt  one  of  the  best  examples  of  Mrs. 
Normand's  power  in  this  direction.  There  is 
a  quality  of  colour  which  is  seldom  seen  in 
the  usual  studies  of  the  nude  figure.  The 
wide  range  of  colour  and  texture  of  flesh- 
painting  as  interpreted   by  various  artists  may 


9o  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

be  represented  at  one  extreme  by  the  pecu- 
liar wax-like  tint  and  surface  affected  by 
Leighton,  and  at  the  other  by  the  ugly, 
coarse-skinned,  unwholesomely  fleshed  repre- 
sentations of  the  ultra  New  English  Art  Club 
school.  Between  these,  and  nearest  akin  to 
nature,  comes  the  work  of  Mrs.  Normand, 
with  its  tenderness  and  delicacy ;  with  its  suffi- 
cient idealisation  to  remove  the  figures  beyond 
the  plane  of  mere  studies  from  the  living 
model.  She  imparts  to  them  all  the  beauty 
of  texture  and  colour  that  pertains  to  nature. 
The  painted  flesh  glows  under  the  charm  of 
her  brush  as  though  it  were  palpitating  with 
life  in  this  picture  of  "  Summer,"  while  the 
rich  setting  of  rose  blooms  emphasises  its 
beauteous  qualities. 

This  background  of  foliage  and  magnificent 
display  of  roses  was  painted  in  Mr.  Beeforth's 
charming  rose  -  garden  at  Scarborough — re- 
deemed from  the  wildness  of  the  usual  cliff" 
frontage,  and  transformed  into  a  veritable 
Paradise. 

"  Summer  "  was  sent  with  "  Flowers  Plucked 
and  Cast  Aside"  to  an  Art  Exhibition  promoted 
in  Russia,  and  was  purchased  by  the  Grand 
Duke  Boris  Vladimirovitch  for  his  private  col- 
lection. 

A  curious  accident  occurred  at  this  Exhi- 
bition in  connection  with  these  two  pictures. 
Owing  to  the  indifferent  knowledge  of  English 
possessed  by  those  responsible  for  the  catalogue, 


LADY     NEWTON. 


VISIT    TO    ITALY.  91 

the  titles  of  the  pictures  were  transposed,  and 
the  works  were  sold  under  their  wrong  names. 

In  addition  to  "  Summer "  Mrs.  Normand 
was  represented  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  1896 
by  the  portrait  of  Mr.  Beeforth,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made. 

But  the  great  event  of  this  year  was  one 
that  brought  to  Mrs.  Normand  and  her  husband 
a  realisation  of  one  of  the  greatest  hopes  of 
their  lives — an  extended  tour  through  Italy, 
and  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  great 
masterpieces  of  Art  which  can  alone  be  seen 
there.  The  opportunity  was  presented  to  them 
in  an  invitation  from  Mr.  Beeforth  to  accom- 
pany him  on  such  a  tour,  an  opportunity,  of 
course,  that  could  not  be  allowed  to  pass  un- 
grasped.  Mr.  Beeforth  had  done  the  round  of 
the  galleries  many  times,  and  had  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  their  contents  and  the  best  con- 
ditions under  which  they  were  to  be  studied. 
He  knew  exactly  where  each  great  work  was 
to  be  seen  and  the  shortest  and  quickest  way 
to  get  there.  Under  his  guidance  there  were 
direct  visits  to  objects  of  interest,  without  that 
loss  of  time  endured  by  the  ordinary  visitor 
ignorant  of  the  devious  ways  of  Italian  cities. 

The  impressions  of  an  artist  on  this  Mecca- 
pilgrimage  of  Art  are  so  personal  and  individual 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  third  person 
to  give  adequate  expression  to  them.  I  have 
therefore  transcribed  a  summary  of  the  journey 
and  its   influences  given  me  by   Mr.  Normand, 


92  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

in  preference  to  attempting  to  record  them  in 
my  own  words  : 

"We  had,  of  course,  like  most  other  painters, 
been  looking  forward  for  years  to  the  delights 
of  seeing  with  our  own  eyes  the  masterpieces 
that  were  familiar  to  us  through  reproductions, 
and  of  which  we  had  read  much  and  heard 
more  from  the  artists  among  whom  the  earlier 
part  of  our  artistic  lives  had  been  spent. 
Leighton's  biennial  addresses  at  the  Royal 
Academy  had,  as  students,  impressed  us  im- 
mensely, and  our  subsequent  intimate  associa- 
tions with  him  and  with  Watts,  Richmond, 
and  Prinsep  had  led  us  to  place  enormous 
value  on  the  object  lessons  likely  to  be  derived 
from  the  study  of  the  mighty  works  that  have 
come  down  to  us  as  records  of  magnificent 
achievement.  We  were,  of  course,  familiar 
with  the  examples  of  the  various  Italian 
schools  that  are  represented  in  our  own 
National  Gallery  and  in  the  Louvre,  and  we 
had  each  year  diligently  studied  the  Old 
Masters'  Exhibitions  at  Burlington  House,  so 
that  our  minds  were  in  a  condition  to  receive 
the  right  impressions  that  an  extended  visit  to 
the  galleries  of  Italy  was   likely  to  afford. 

"  We  knew  theoretically  the  influences  exer- 
cised by  the  various  masters  that  formed  the 
style  of  those  who  succeeded  them.  We  knew 
of  the  beginnings  of  Raffaello  under  the  dom- 
ination of  Perugino,  but  in  the  Vatican  we 
saw   with  our   own    eyes   how,   commencing   at 


Q 

Z 

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VISIT    TO    ITALY. 

the  top  of  the  '  Disputa '  fresco,  the  ang< 
of  Perugino  still  intruded  themselves,  and  how, 
lower  down  in  the  design,  Kaffaello's  indi- 
viduality gradually  asserted  itself  and  eventually 
became  the  expression  of  a  spontaneous  im- 
pulse that  evolved  the  marvellous  powers 
which  have  dominated  so  triumphantly  through 
all  the  succeeding  ages. 

"  We  had,  as  I  have  observed,  been  well  pre- 
pared in  all  the  traditions  that  are  necessary 
to  a  just  appreciation  of  these  titanic  works, 
and  yet  the  impressions  far  surpassed  in  in- 
tensity everything  of  which  we  had  imagined 
ourselves  capable  of  experiencing.  We  arrived 
in  Rome  at  midnight,  and  drove  round  to  look 
at  some  of  its  antiquities  by  moonlight.  Our 
old  friend,  who  was  acting  as  our  pilot,  had 
evidently  arranged  that  our  introduction  to 
this  shrine  of  all  that  is  beautiful  should  not 
lack  the  mystery  likely  to  impress  the  receptive 
artistic  temperament.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing we  were  further  attuned  to  the  enjoyment 
of  our  quest  by  an  early  visit  to  St.  Peter's, 
hours  before  the  arrival  of  the  crowd  of 
ordinary   tourists. 

"  These  preliminary  rites  having  been  ob- 
served, as  artists  we  then  immediately  devoted 
our  attention  to  the  Vatican  Galleries,  and 
among  all  the  splendid  things  that  there  met  our 
eyes  none  impressed  us  more  than  the  Raffaello 
frescoes  and  the  Sistine  decorations — indeed, 
we  were  not  more  impressed  by  anything  we  saw 


94  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

subsequently,  either  in  Rome  or  elsewhere,  not 
even  excepting  the  Botticellis  in  Florence,  nor 
the  Titians.  Michael  Angelo's  ceiling  alone 
came  near  to  ruining  us.  We  felt  that  nothing 
less  than  a  six-feet  photograph  of  the  whole, 
and  large,  detailed  prints  of  the  individual 
panels  and  figure  (printed  in  permanent  brown 
carbon  to  last  for  all  time),  could  possibly 
satisfy  our  craving  to  study  at  leisure  the 
magnificent  design  and  drawing  of  this  most 
wonderful  of  all  works  of  the  master.  I  had 
to  satisfy  this  craving,  in  a  measure,  at  the 
expense  of  my  purse,  but  our  friend  wisely 
pointed  out  that  nothing  short  of  the  purse  of 
Fortunatus  could  possibly  carry  us  through 
Italy  if  we  determined  to  bring  away  expensive 
records  of  each  masterpiece  by  which  we  were 
impressed ;  moreover,  did  we  do  so,  special 
galleries  would  have  to  be  built  for  the  records 
if  we  wished  properly  to  enjoy  them. 

"  Our  visit  to  Rome  was  rendered  addition- 
ally enjoyable  by  a  chance  meeting  with  Sir 
Charles  Holroyd,  who,  like  ourselves,  had  gone 
to  Italy — but  for  a  much  longer  time — to 
study  the  Old  Masters.  When  we  met  him 
he  had  brought  the  matter  to  so  exact  a 
science  that  he  gave  us  a  list  of  the  notable 
pictures,  with  the  precise  time  marked  against 
each,  at  which  it  could  best  be  seen.  Thus, 
he  told  us  to  make  our  first  acquaintance  with 
Titian's  '  Sacred  and  Profane  Love,'  in  the 
Borghese  Palace,  at  1.30  precisely  on  a  sunny 


THE     CHARITIES     OF     SIR     RICHARD     WHITTINGTON. 

From    the    Wall  Painting    in    the   Royal   Exchange. 

By   Permission   of  Messrs.    S.    Hildesheimer  &   Co., 
Owners  of  the   Copyright,   and  Publishers  of  the 
Colour-reproduction   of  the   Picture. 


VISIT    TO    ITALY. 

morning.  Guided  by  a  ground  plan  wo  were 
to  walk  through  the  preceding  rooms  without 
paying  attention  to  any  paintings  they  con- 
tained ;  to  walk  straight  to  the  end  of  the 
gallery  and,  when  we  reached  the  end,  to  turn 
sharp  round  and  face  the  picture,  which  would 
then  burst  upon  us  in  all  its  glory,  illuminated 
by  a  sun  reflection  from  the  floor.  We  were 
bound  to  admit  that  this  preliminary  trouble 
fully  repaid  us.  The  canvas,  always  brilliant, 
fairly  glowed,  and  seemed  to  illuminate  its 
surroundings. 

"  Our  friendship  with  Sir  Charles — then  plain 
Mr. — Holroyd  was  one  of  long  standing,  and 
dated  back  to  the  time  when  we  were  working 
in  the  Academy  Schools,  and  he  himself  was 
a  successful  student  at  '  the  Slade.'  More- 
over, his  people  hailed  from  Yorkshire,  and 
were  known  to  Mr.  Beeforth,  so  that  our  party 
assimilated,  greatly  to  our  profit,  as  I  have 
already  shown  in  one  instance. 

11  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  we  never  pre- 
sented our  many  letters  of  introduction  to  the 
various  houses  in  Rome  where  artists  are  ever 
welcome.  Our  time  was  so  fully  occupied  in 
'ganging  our  own  gait'  by  day,  that  the 
evenings  found  us  ready  for  rest.  Besides,  our 
discussions  of  the  various  items  of  the  day's 
programme,  which  were  natural,  and  to  us  in- 
evitable, would,  perhaps,  have  wearied  anyone 
less  interested  than  ourselves. 

"  Among  all  the  masterpieces  of  the  Italian 


96  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

school  to  be  found  in  Rome,  it  struck  us  that 
an  alien,  Velasquez  to  wit,  easily  holds  his 
own  in  one  notable  portrait  enshrined  in  a 
special  room  of  the  Doria  Palace.  Indeed,  it 
seems  to  us  that  his  '  Pope  Innocent  X.' 
looms  large  above  any  portraits  that  we  saw 
in  that  wonderful  panorama  of  a  journey  that 
even  now  registers  itself  in  our  minds  as  a 
delight  such  as  will  never  for  us  be  equalled. 
It  was  a  glimpse  of  the  wonderland  of  which 
we  had  dreamed,  but  which  we  had  not 
imagined  half  as  entrancing  as  it  proved  to 
be.  We  spent  weeks  in  Florence  familiarising 
ourselves  with  the  great  works  of  Botticelli, 
the  awe-inspiring  masterpieces  of  Cellini,  and 
the  charming  productions  of  Donatello  and 
the  Delia  Robbias.  In  Venice,  Milan,  Bologna 
and  Naples,  we  followed,  in  innumerable  ex- 
amples, the  progress  of  the  grand  procession 
of  workers  whose  names  are  writ  immortal  on 
the  roll  of  Fame.  Titian,  Guido,  Mantegna, 
Fabriano,  and  the  holy  men  who  worked  their 
souls'  desires  into  their  creations,  the  monks 
Angelico  and  Bartolommeo,  Filippo  Lippi, 
Mino  da  Fiesole,  Ghirlandaio,  and  countless 
others,  all  members  of  the  glorious  host  born 
on  that  classic  soil,  and  whose  names  had 
been  to  us  but  as  sounds.  Here  their  lives 
were  laid  bare  before  us  in  their  works  ;  lives 
full  of  earnest  endeavour  towards  the  highest 
achievement  in  art ;  men  who,  in  their  simple 
requirements,  shame   us  ephemeral    and  pigmy 


MRS.     NORMAND     PAINTING     THE 
ROYAL     EXCHANGE     PANEL. 


From   a   Photo  by    George   Netvnes,    Ltd. 

(The  canvas,    mounted  on   runners,    could  be  raised  from,    or  lowered  into, 
a  pit  sunk   below  the  floor  of  the   studio.) 


VISIT    TO    ITALY.  97 

craftsmen    of    to-day;    giants    whose    triumphs 
will  be  handed  down  to  generations  yet  unborn. 

"Imagine  us  among  this  wealth  of  wonders; 
the  masterpieces  of  Greek  sculpture  and  the 
marvellous  creations  of  Michael  Angelo's  chisel 
and  mallet.  Imagine  us  face  to  face  with  the 
original  Greek  works,  of  which  we  had  as 
students  made  our  laborious  studies  in  the 
schools ;  at  every  turn  we  met  these  old 
Iriends,  but  all  refined  in  outline  and  propor- 
tion— living  marble  instead  of  lifeless  plaster ! 
To  understand  this  immeasurable  difference  let 
a  comparison  be  made  between  a  photograph 
of  Michael  Angelo's  '  Pieta '  of  St.  Peter's 
Chapel  with  the  cast  in  the  Crystal  Palace 
or  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  even  as 
the  fiat  print  renders  but  a  suggestion  of  the 
grandeur  of  the  cast,  so  in  its  turn  the  cast 
is  but  a  shadow  of  the  original.  Imagine  all 
this  presented  to  two  impressionable  and  en- 
thusiastic artists,  and  some  idea  can  be  formed 
of  the  revelation  it  was  to  my  wife  and 
myself. 

"  Every  artist  worthy  of  the  name  is,  of 
course,  capable  of  the  same  emotions,  but  our 
lines  had  fallen  among  a  group  of  men  whose 
life's  work  had  been  based  upon  these  classic 
masterpieces,  and  as  we  stood  before  the 
various  canvases  and  statues,  we  conjured  up 
our  friends  and  mentors  as  living  entities,  and 
imagined  what  they  had  said  of  each  work 
when  first  confronted  with   it.      When,  later  on 

G 


98  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

in  the  Uffizi,  we  met  our  friends  Leighton. 
Watts,  Poynter,  and  Millais  face  to  face, 
limned  by  their  own  hands,  honoured  guests 
among  the  modern  masters,  we  felt  almost 
capable  of  continuing  our  discussions  with 
them,  and  longed  to  bring  disputed  points  to 
their  notice.  This  satisfaction,  however,  we 
had  to  reserve  until  our  return,  when  we  did 
not  fail  to  let  off  some  of  our  exuberant 
enthusiasm  to  sympathetic  ears." 


ISABELLA. 


By    Permission    of   Athol    Tn, 

■f   the    Picture    and    C    I 


99 


CHAPTER    IX. 

1897-1905. 

"Isabella";  "Diana  and  Callisto";    "The 
Charities    of    Sir    Richard    Whitti.v  - 
ton  "  (Royal  Exchange  Wall  Painting) 
"  The        Marquess        of       Dufferin  "  ; 
"Sirens";    "Songs  of  the  Morning." 

ON  the  return  from  Italy  the  first  picture  to 
be  taken  in  hand  was  "  Isabella,"  based 
on  Keats's  rendering  of  Boccaccio's  story  of 
Isabella  and  her  pot  of  basil.  With  Miss 
Muriel  Newton  as  her  model,  Mrs.  Normand 
painted  an  "Isabella"  of  surpassing  beaut}-. 
Her  hands  are  clasped  round  the  pot  which 
enshrines  the  ghastly  remains  of  her  murdered 
lover,  and  her  head  leans  against  it  in  an 
attitude  expressive  of  the  heartbreaking  sorrow 
under  which  she  is  suffering.  It  is,  in  fact, 
a  most  successful  realisation  of  the  subject  as 
imagined  and  described  by  Keats : 

•'  And  she  forgot  the  stars,  the  moon,  and  sun, 

And  she  forgot  the  blue  above  the  trc 
And  she  forgot  the  dells  where  waters  run, 

And  she  forgot  the  chilly  autumn  breeze  ; 
She  had  no  knowledge  when  the  day  was  done. 


ioo  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

And  the  new  morn  she  saw  not :  but  in  peace 
Hung  over  her  sweet  Basil  ever  more, 

And  moisten'd  it  with  tears  unto  the  core. 

And  so  she  ever  fed  it  with  these  tears, 

Whence  thick,  and  green,  and  beautiful  it  grew, 
So  that  it  smelt  more  balmy  than  its  peers 

Of  Basil-tufts  in  Florence  ;  for  it  drew 
Nurture  besides,  and  life,  from  human  fears, 

From  the  fast  mouldering  head  there  shut  from  view  : 
So  that  the  jewel,  safely  casketed, 

Came  forth,  and  in  perfumed  leaflets  spread." 

The  picture  was  hung  in  the  Royal 
Academy  Exhibition  of  1897,  and  formed  the 
artist's  only  contribution  to  the  public  exhibi- 
tions of  that  year.  She  was,  however,  occu- 
pied on  a  portrait  of  Mrs.  Beeforth  (which 
passed  direct  into  Mr.  Beeforth's  possession) 
and  in  a  heavy  round  of  duties  connected  with 
the  presidentship  of  the  Women's  Art  Section 
of  the  Victorian  Exhibition,  which  she  had 
accepted  on  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Imre 
Kiralfy. 

Messrs.  Tooth  and  Sons,  who  had  published 
a  large  photogravure  reproduction  of  "  Pysche 
before  the  Throne  of  Venus,"  now  approached 
Mrs.  Normand  with  a  commission  to  paint  a 
companion  picture  to  that  subject :  the  com- 
mission was  accepted,  and  "  Diana  and  Cal- 
listo,"  which  appeared  at  the  Academy  in 
1899,  was  the  outcome.  The  work  demanded 
the  artist's  undivided  attention  during  1898, 
and  in  that  year,  for  the  first  time  since   1881, 


THE     MARQUESS     OF     DUFFERIN     AND     AVA. 
Painted  for  the   Belfast    Yacht   Club. 


-DIANA    AND     (ALIAS  IDA  101 

she  was  unrepresented   at   the    Academy,   and, 
indeed,  at  all  the  galleries. 

"Diana  and  Callisto'  is  a  canvas  ;is  im- 
portant in  size  as  the  "  Psyche,"  with  seven- 
teen figures.  Diana  and  her  maidens  have 
been  bathing  in  a  stream  which  runs  through 
a  shady  glade  in  a  classic  landscape.  In 
front  of  the  majestic  figure  of  the  goddess 
kneels  the  nymph  Callisto,  cowering  under 
the  scathing  denunciations  of  the  irate  Diana. 
The  subject  afforded  Mrs.  Normand  another 
excellent  opportunity  for  the  display  of  her 
power  in  flesh  painting,  for  the  attendants 
of  Diana  are  all  in  the  act  of  robing  after 
the  bath,  and  are  all  more  or  less  nude. 
Some  of  these  figures  are  most  beautiful  in 
pose,  and  all  are  painted  in  the  artist's  best 
manner.  But  it  is  the  pathetic  figure  of 
Callisto  that  absorbs  the  attention  ;  with  arms 
across  her  breast  she  clutches  the  drapery 
which  one  of  Diana's  amazons  is  trying  to  re- 
move;  it  is  one  of  Mrs.  Normand's  happiest 
efforts.  But,  in  spite  of  these  beauties  of  detail, 
the  picture,  as  a  whole,  was  not  altogether  suc- 
cessful, and  the  failure  of  its  first  reproduction  in 
photogravure  completed  the  artist's  disappoint- 
ment. The  anti-nude  crank  was  again  on  the 
war  path  over  this  work,  and  among  other 
effusions  received  by  the  artist  was  the  follow- 
ing typical  example  of  the  impudent  letters 
sent  to  painters  by  these  self-constituted 
keepers  of  public  morals  : 


102  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

"  Madam,  I  trust  that  you  will  not  think 
me  presumptuous  beyond  pardon  in  addressing 
you  in  relation  to  your  picture  '  Diana  and 
Callisto,'  now  on  exhibition  in  the  Royal 
Academy.  Doubtless  from  the  artistical  (sic) 
point  of  view  it  ranks  very  high  amongst  the 
productions  of  the  day.  But  from  an  ethical 
point  of  view  it  is  also  doubtless  dangerous 
to  many.  So  far  as  a  large  proportion  of 
men  are  concerned,  the  presentation  of  beau- 
tiful women  so  scantily  draped  cannot  but 
appeal  to  passions  that  are  already  of  volcanic 

force  in  their  nature Then  as  regards 

the  models  themselves.  For  women  to  sit  to 
women  in  this  way  is  probably  not  so  deter- 
iorating to  their  moral  sense.  But,  as  you 
know,  it  habituates  them  to  sit  thus  also  to 
men — and  herein  must  be  found  a  trespass 
upon  feminine  modesty  on  the  one  hand  and 
also  on  masculine  chivalry  on  the  other. 

"  It  will  be  a  great  day  when  artists  so 
gifted  as  yourself  set  your  faces  against  public 
or  private  presentation  of  such  pictures  and 
all  that  is  associated  with  their  painting.  And 
I  am  sure  an  appeal  to  your  own  kindly  heart 
to  aid  those  who  here  and  elsewhere  are 
labouring  under  great  disadvantages  to  become 
their  brothers'  and  sisters'  '  keepers '  will  not 
be  thrown  aside  as  wholly  irrational  and 
vain." 

Such  curious  communications  are  common 
to  all  artists  who  choose  to  paint  such  subjects, 


< 
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°-  E 
ui 

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5   O 


"ROSES    OF    YOUTH."  \o\ 

and  it  is  fortunate  that  the  writers  of  them 
form  so  small  a  proportion  of  the  public.  It 
is  somewhat  appalling  to  think  what  might 
result  were  the  bulk  of  people  overweighted, 
in  like  manner,  with  prurient  and  sensual 
thoughts. 

At  the  New  Gallery  of  1899  was  "  Day- 
Dreams,"  a  study  which  passed  into  the  col- 
lection of  Mr.  Beeforth,  and  to  this  year,  too, 
belongs  the  portrait  of  Mr.  H.  K.  Newton, 
son  of  Sir  Alfred  Newton,  the  then  Lord 
Mayor  of  London.  A  portrait  of  Lady 
Newton,  which  appeared  at  the  Academy  in 
the  following  year,  must  be  esteemed  one 
of  the  most  successful  portraits  of  a  woman 
painted  by  Mrs.  Normand.  At  the  New 
Gallery  of  1900  there  were  two  studies  of 
heads,  entitled  "  Roses  of  Youth  "  and  "  Her 
Eyes  are  Homes  of  Silent  Prayer"  (which 
were  commissioned  for  publication  by  Messrs. 
Savory,  of  Bristol),  and  a  portrait  of  Dr.  W.  H. 
Cummings,  F.S.A. 

But  the  most  important  work  to  be  accred- 
ited to  this  year  was  the  completion  of  the  large 
wall-painting  for  the  Royal  Exchange,  "  The 
Charities  of  Sir  Richard  Whittington."  This 
work  had  been  in  hand  for  some  time,  and  had 
involved  an  immense  amount  of  labour  and 
thought.  The  space  to  be  covered  measured 
eighteen  feet  by  twelve  feet,  and  the  composi- 
tion included  no  fewer  than  fourteen  life-sized 
figures.       Mr.    Normand    had    also   received    a 


io4  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

commission  for  one  of  these  decorations — 
11  King  John  Granting  Magna  Charta  " — and 
the  difficulty  connected  with  the  handling  of 
two  works  on  this  scale  in  one  studio  was 
solved  by  him  in  a  manner  peculiarly  in- 
genious. Two  pits  were  sunk — one  at  each 
end  of  the  studio — equal  in  depth  to  the  height 
of  the  canvases.  In  these  the  canvases, 
mounted  on  frames,  could  be  raised  or  lowered 
at  the  will  of  the  artists,  as  they  worked  at 
the  level  of  the  studio  floor.  The  advantages 
of  such  a  device  were  obvious,  and  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  other  of  the  series  of  pictures  at  the 
Royal  Exchange  was  produced  under  such 
easy  conditions.  There  was  no  folding  of  the 
canvas,  so  that  the  whole  composition  could 
be  seen,  and  due  proportions  maintained, 
throughout. 

But  in  spite  of  this  labour-saving  device, 
the  strain  upon  Mrs.  Normand  in  the  produc- 
tion of  this  work  was  very  great,  especially  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  it  had  to  be  completed 
by  a  specified  date.  Many  careful  studies  had 
to  be  made  of  each  separate  figure,  in  char- 
coal and  colour ;  and  again  of  the  groups. 
The  reproduction  in  colour  of  the  study  for 
the  head  of  Whittington — for  which  Mr. 
Surridge,  the  artist's  brother-in-law,  sat  as 
model — will  serve  as  a  suggestion  of  the 
amount  of  work  put  into  each  of  these  pre- 
liminary studies ;  they  are  almost  as  elabor- 
ately dealt  with  as  the    finished   picture.     The 


I 
■ 


I 


.  -■ 

jomciNAL    study  ...  "  .:  .-  I 

L^_        /, .  nut  > 


STUDY     F03     THE      HEAD     OF     WHITTINGTON. 


THE   ROYAL    EXCHANGE    PANEL.       105 

summer   was   one   of    unremitting    toil  ;    ofti  n- 

times  work  was  commenced  at  six  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  continued  throughout  the 
day  until  the  light  failed  at  dusk.  But  the 
task  was  duly  accomplished,  and  when  the 
panel  was  placed  in  position  it  bore  favour- 
able comparison  with  those  already  there. 

When  the  Gresham  Committee  announced 
their  intention  of  filling  these  ambulatorv 
walls  of  the  Exchange  with  decorations,  Lord 
Leighton  immediately  offered  to  provide  the 
first  of  the  series,  and  his  "  Phoenicians 
Bartering  with  Ancient  Britons "  was  duly 
designed  and  painted.  The  method  adopted 
by  Leighton  has  been  more  or  less  closely 
followed  by  the  other  artists  concerned.  The 
strong  flax  canvas  was  prepared  with  a  medium 
composed  of  Sierra  Leone  copal,  wax,  and  oil 
of  spike,  which  was  similar  to  the  "  Spirit 
Fresco "  mediums  invented  by  T.  Gambier 
Parry  for  use  in  connection  with  pictures 
painted  direct  on  a  specially  prepared  plaster 
wall.  When  the  canvas  was  finished  it  was 
attached  to  the  wall  by  a  process  which  was 
frequently  used  in  France,  but  had  never 
before  been  attempted  in  England.  Leighton 
designed  a  border  which  it  was  decided 
should  be  repeated  on  each  panel,  so  that  his 
initial  picture  of  the  series  served,  in  more 
than  one  respect,  as  a  model  to  other  artists 
who  should  be  engaged  on  the  work. 

There  were  twenty-four  panels  to  be   filled, 


io6  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

and  each  was  to  be  dealt  with  by  a  separate 
artist.  Many  of  the  pictures  are  the  gifts  of 
private  citizens,  and  others  have  been  provided 
by  the  City  Guilds.  The  "  Whittington  "  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Abe  Bayley,  whose  wife  "  sat " 
for  the  study  of  Dame  Whittington.  The 
whole  forms  a  scheme  of  decoration  that  is 
unique  and  intensely  interesting.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  building  has  been  transformed ; 
the  aforetime  dull,  grey  walls  now  glow  with 
colour,  and  make  this  court  of  the  Exchange 
an  aesthetic  oasis  amid  the  arid  commercialism 
of  the  City. 

Another  interesting  commission  followed 
hard  upon  the  completion  of  the  Whittington  ; 
this  came  from  the  Belfast  Yacht  Club  for  a 
portrait  of  its  commodore,  the  Marquess  of 
Dufferin.  The  matter  had  to  be  taken  up 
immediately,  and,  in  reply  to  the  request  for 
sittings,  Lord  Dufferin  wrote  that  he  would  be 
in  London  three  days  after  his  letter,  and,  if 
convenient  to  the  artist,  he  would  like  the 
work  commenced  at  once.  As  he  could  not 
well  be  asked  to  travel  to  Norwood  for  the 
purpose,  hurried  arrangements  had  to  be  made 
to  secure  a  studio  in  London.  In  their  diffi- 
culty Mr.  Normand  wrote  to  their  old  friend, 
Mr.  G.  F.  Watts,  to  ask  if  he  could  let  them 
have  the  temporary  use  of  his  studio  at  Little 
Holland  House.  Watts  was  then  living  at 
Guildford,  and  gave  a  ready  acquiescence  when 
he  heard  the  purpose  that  prompted  the  request. 


A 


£* 


~' 


a: 


:- 
- 


z      =■ 

UJ  ■ 

tf>      s. 


"THE    MARQUESS   OF    DUFFERIN? 

The  Belfast  Yacht  Club  had  communicate 
to    Lord    DuHcrin    the    name    of    the    artist    to 
whom   they  had  given  the  commission,  a  nam< 
with    which    he     proved     to     be     unacquainted 
after    his    long    absence    from    England.       He 
therefore    went    to    Messrs.    Graves    to   enquire 
as   to   her  credentials  and  capabilities,  and  the 
report  he  received   from    them   at    once   settled 
any  doubts    that    existed    in    his    mind.     When 
the    request    for    an    appointment    came    from 
the    artist    it    was,  as    we    have    seen,  promptly 
answered  by  Lord  Dufferin,  and  in  due  course 
he    made    his    appearance    at     Little     Holland 
House.     He    at    once    expressed    his  conviction 
that  he  knew  the    place,  and   it    was   explained 
to   whom    it    belonged    and    how    it    had    been 
lent    for    the    purpose    of   the    portrait.       "  Oh, 
yes."    he    said,    "  Watts    painted    a    portrait   of 
me   years    ago."     As    a  matter   of   fact    it   was 
thirty    years    previously,     and    the     impression 
then    received    of   the    quiet    studio     had     been 
retained    through    all    the    stress   of    his    busv 
diplomatic    life.       He    sat    in    the    same    chair 
that     he     occupied    when     Watts    painted    his 
portrait,  and  proved  a  splendid  "  sitter."     Him- 
self   an     enthusiastic     artist,     he     was     keenly 
sensible  of  what  was  required  of  him,  and    did 
his  utmost  to    assist    Mrs.  Normand   to    secure 
the    best    possible    result.      At   the    end    of   the 
first    sitting    the    anxiety    on     each    side    was 
equally      great.        Mrs.      Normand      nervously 
awaited    her    sitter's    remark     as     he    stepped 


108  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

from  the  throne  and  caught  the  first  glimpse 
of  the  work — that  crucial  moment  which  every 
portrait  -  painter  knows  so  well.  But  the 
anxiety  was  of  short  duration,  for  she  saw 
from  the  expression  on  his  face  that  all  was 
well,  and  when  he  exclaimed  with  pleasure, 
"  Why,  you  have  got  it  like  in  the  first  half- 
hour,"  she  knew  that  the  portrait  was  going 
to  be  a  successful  one. 

After  half  a  dozen  sittings  in  London  Lord 
Dufferin  was  compelled  to  leave  town,  and  he 
invited  Mrs.  Normand  to  complete  the  work 
at  Clandeboye,  his  Irish  home.  The  pilgrim- 
age was  accordingly  made,  and  the  billiard- 
room  was  for  the  time  being  transformed  into 
a  studio.  Here  on  an  improvised  "  throne " 
he  sat  and  talked  whilst  Mrs.  Normand 
painted ;  talked  of  his  many  and  curious 
experiences  in  all  parts  of  the  world  ;  of  India 
and  Canada,  of  adventure  and  incidents  in 
statecraft  in  which  he  had  played  a  part.  It 
was  a  delightful  experience  to  the  artist  and 
her  husband,  and  called  forth  the  best  of  her 
talent  to  the  work  she  had  in  hand.  The 
visit  extended  over  three  weeks,  and  afforded 
splendid  opportunities  to  Mrs.  Normand  to 
study  her  subject — opportunities  which  occur 
all  too  rarely  in  a  portrait-painter's  experience. 

Among  Lord  Dufferin's  choicest  treasures 
was  his  "Helen's  Tower"  library,  which  is 
a  collection  of  books  that  is  probably  unique. 
The  "Tower"  was   erected  as  a   memorial    to 


LOOT. 

In  the  possession  of  H.    K.    Newton,   Esq. 


• '  THE  M.  1 R  Q  i  ESS   Oh   D I  '/•  FER IX. "      109 

his  mother,  and  in  it  are  placed  autograph 
copies  of  books  by  all  the  best  known  authors 
of  his  time,  each  exquisitely  bound  by  Zaehns- 
dorf.  Celebrated  artists  were  asked  by  Lord 
Dufferin  to  select  their  favourite  book  and  in 
it  to  place  a  sketch — and  these,  too,  were 
bound  up,  and  with  the  literary  souvenirs 
form  a  collection  of  great  interest.  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand's  contribution  was  a  copy  of  Morris's 
11  Earthly  Paradise,"  with  a  sketch  of  Venus 
from  "  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of  Venus." 

On  its  completion  the  portrait  was  pro- 
nounced by  all  to  be  a  great  success.  Lord 
and  Lady  Dufferin  were  both  enthusiastic 
over  it,  and  declared  it  to  be  the  best  that  had 
ever  been  painted,  and  Mrs.  Normand  there- 
upon painted  a  replica  for  presentation  to 
Lady  Dufferin.  Further  sittings  were  given 
for  this  second  portrait,  which,  although  based 
upon  the  first,  is  really  an  original  work  rather 
than  a  replica.  This  was  completed  in  the 
October  preceding  Lord  Dufferin's  death  in 
February,  1902. 

The  first  portrait  was  sent  to  the  Royal 
Academy  of  1900,  and  added  greatly  to  the 
artist's  reputation  as  a  portraitist ;  there  can 
be  no  question  that  it  is  the  strongest  work 
in  this  direction  achieved  by  Mrs.  Normand. 
The  quiet  dignity  of  the  portrait  as  a  whole 
is  perfectly  attuned  to  the  character  of  the 
kindly  grand  seigneur  whom  it  represented : 
the  strong,  intellectual   head   is  so  painted  that 


no  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

while  the  strictest  accuracy  of  likeness  is 
observed,  there  is  sufficient  ideality  to  suggest 
the  nobility  of  character  and  gentleness  of 
heart  possessed   by   this  great  man. 

Portraiture,  indeed,  became  Mrs.  Normand's 
chief  work  at  this  time  ;  at  the  New  Gallery 
of  1 901  there  were  portraits  of  Miss  Beeforth 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Brown. 

During  the  first  six  months  of  1902  Mrs. 
Normand  was  incapacitated  by  a  serious  and 
well-nigh  fatal  illness  that  rendered  any  great 
exertion  inadvisable  for  the  remaining  part  of 
the  year.  This  period  was  entirely  devoted  to 
the  execution  of  a  commission  from  Mr.  Athol 
Thorne  for  two  decorative  panels  for  his  house 
in  Park  Street,  with  the  subjects  of  "  Venus  " 
and  "  Diana."  The  former  is  virtually  the 
central  figure  of  "  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of 
Venus."  In  place  of  the  classic  architecture 
of  the  first  picture  there  is  a  background  of 
oleander  foliage  and  bloom,  and  in  the  distance 
a  glimpse  of  blue  sea.  The  other  panel  shows 
Diana  seated  on  the  bank  of  a  stream  in  a 
shady  forest  glade.  By  the  courtesy  of  Mr. 
Thorne  we  are  enabled  to  reproduce  the 
"  Venus "  in  colour,  so  that  some  sugges- 
tion of  the  delicacy  of  the  original  may  be 
recorded. 

"  Sirens,"  which  secured  a  place  of  honour 
at  the  Academy  of  1903,  a  "  centre "  on  the 
line,  was  the  outcome  of  a  suggestion  made 
to  the  artist  by  Lord   Dufferin.     The  painting 


IN     LISTENING     MOOD. 


"  SIKENS."  1 1 1 

was  thus  referred  to  in  the  Magazim  of  Art : 
"  The  large,  gracefully  composed  canvas  of 
'  Sirens,'  modelled  with  unusual  care,  presents  a 
colour-surface  of  broken  tones  which  constitute 
a  great  advance  upon  the  artist's  previous 
achievements."  If  reference  is  made  to  the 
illustrations  of  this  picture  and  "  Summer,"  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  pose  of  the  figure  in 
the  latter  picture  has  been  practically  adapted 
to  that  of  the  central  "  Siren."  The  back- 
ground of  rock  and  sea  was  painted  at  Dinard. 
The  picture  was  sent  to  the  Exhibition  at 
St.  Louis  in  1904,  and  was  there  purchased 
by  Mrs.  J.  R.  Cardeza,  of  Philadelphia.  There 
was  also  in  the  Academy  Exhibition  of  1903  a 
portrait  of  Lady  Winifred  Renshaw  and  Her 
Son,  the  completion  of  which  had  been  inter- 
rupted by  the   artist's  illness. 

At  the  New  Gallery  of  1903  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand  had  a  portrait  of  Dr.  MacNaughten 
Jones — a  gift  to  the  physician  by  whose  skill 
she  had  been  restored  to  health.  To  1903, 
too,  belongs  a  portrait  of  Professor  Byers, 
painted  for  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  which 
necessitated  a  visit  to  Belfast  to  secure  the 
necessary  sittings.  An  amusing  incident 
occurred  in  connection  with  the  work.  Owing 
to  pressure  of  duties  the  Professor  was  unable 
to  give  much  time  to  the  artist,  and  alter  the 
head  had  been  painted  it  was  arranged  that 
Mr.  Normand,  who  had  accompanied  his  wife, 
should     "  sit  "     for    the    coat.      He    thereupon 


ii2  HENRIETTA    RAE. 

donned  the  professorial  garment,  and  during 
the  sitting,  in  a  moment  of  abstraction,  slipped 
into  its  pocket  the  pipe  which  he  had  been 
smoking.  The  sitting  over,  the  pipe  was 
forgotten,  and  the  coat  returned  to  the  Pro- 
fessor. The  next  scene  is  the  operating  theatre 
of  the  hospital,  at  which  the  Professor  is  to 
demonstrate  before  the  students.  He  is  most 
particular  as  to  absolute  care  being  taken  in 
operations :  has  impressed  the  students  with 
the  necessity  of  perfect  attention  to  matters 
of  cleanliness,  and  has  the  reputation  of  being  a 
non-smoker.  Imagine  his  chagrin,  and  the 
students'  delight,  when  from  his  pocket  fell  a 
much  used,  highly  perfumed  pipe.  Explana- 
tion was,  of  course,  impossible  and  futile ;  the 
evidence  was  too  strong — in  a  double  sense — 
to  be  explained  away. 

"  Loot,"  of  which  a  reproduction  is  given, 
was  painted  in  this  year  for  Mr.  H.  K. 
Newton.  The  picture  was  never  exhibited,  as 
Mrs.  Normand  intended  to  repeat  the  design 
on  a  larger  scale. 

"  Songs  of  the  Morning  "  of  the  Academy 
of  1904  was  a  return  to  the  lighter  manner 
of  "  Flowers  Plucked  and  Cast  Aside,"  a 
dainty  figure  in  a  charmingly  painted  land- 
scape ;  a  theme  that  was  again  adapted  for 
the  New  Gallery  picture  of  1905,  "  In  Listening 
Mood." 

Here,  then,  we  perforce  close  the  record 
of  Mrs.  Normand's  work — a  record  which  tells 


o 

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"  AV    LISTENING    MOODr 

of  a  strenuous  life,  of  continuous,  ftntiring  effort 
to  attain   in   practice  the-level   of  a  lofty  ideal 

of  artistic  excellence — a  record  which  has  j 
to  be  completed.  There  are,  we  hope,  still 
many  years  of  active  work  before  her;  her 
aims  and  ideals  are  still  to  be  fully  attained; 
her  capacity  for  work  and  force  of  energy  are 
as  strong  and  enduring  as  ever.  The  exper- 
ience gained  from  her  successes  and  failures 
is  a  valuable  asset  at  this  stage  of  her  career, 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  forecast  that  the 
former  will  be  excelled,  and  the  latter  forgotten, 
in  the  work  which  is  yet  to  be  produced. 
Among  the  women  artists  of  our  time  Mrs. 
Normand  has  gained  a  foremost  position  by 
sheer  force  of  merit.  As  we  have  seen  from  the 
story  of  her  career,  there  were  no  favouring 
circumstances,  no  kindly  influences  exercised 
on  her  behalf;  all  has  been  gained  by  en- 
during effort  and  indefatigable  industry. 
Failures  have  been  accepted  as  incentives  to 
renewed  endeavour,  and  successes  as  induce- 
ments to  yet  higher  achievement.  Beauty 
is  the  quest  of  her  Art,  and  joyousness  its 
dominant  note — and  that,  perhaps,  is  the  all 
in  all  of  Art. 


H 


INDEX 


••  A    Day's   Sketching,"   Exhibited   at 

Suffolk  Street,  33 
Alma-Tadema,    Sir    L.,  as  "visitor"' 

at  Royal  Academy  Schools,  26 
"Apollo  and   Daphne,"   Exhibited  at 

the  Royal  Academy,  87  ;  Criticisms 

by  Leighton  and  Millais  of,  88 
"  Apple      Blossom,"      Exhibited      at 

Institute  of  Painters  in  Oil  Colours, 

:■' 

"  Ariadne,"     Exhibited      at      Royal 

Academy,  35  ;  Sale  of  Picture  and 

Copyright  of,  36  ;  The  Art  Journal 

on,  37 
Art  Journal,  The.  on  "  Ariadne," 37  ; 

on  "  Apollo  and  Daphne,"  88 
Atelier  Julian,    The,  Mr.    and    Mrs. 

Xormand  at,  61 
Atheneeutn,     The,     on     "  Zephyrus 

wooing  Flora,"  50 
"  Aucklands,"  Norwood,  New  Studio 

at,  77 
"  Azaleas,''  Exhibited  at  New  Gallery, 
89 


B 


"Bacchante,  A,"  Exhibited  at  Royal 
Academy,  35 

"Bavarian  Peasant  Girl,  A,"  at  Royal 
Society  of  British  Artists,  28 

Beardmore,  Rev.  \V.,  Commissions 
Portrait  of  Himself,  28 

Beeforth,  George  Lord,  Esq.,  pur- 
chases "  Eurydice  sinking  back  to 
Hades,"  45  ;  Portrait  of,  as  Mayor    i 


of  Scarborough,   86,  91  ;    Visit   to 
Italy  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand, 

91 
Beeforth,  Miss,  Portrait  of,  no 
orth,  Mrs.,  Portrait  of,  160 
1st  Yacht  Club,  Portrait  of  Mar- 

queSs  of  Dufferin  for,  106 
Benjamin-Constant,  M.,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 

X'irmand  as  pupils  of,  I  1 
Birthplace  and  date.  i'i 
British    Museum,    Work    in   Antique 

Galleries  at,  ji 
Brown,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John,  Portraits 

of,  1 10 
Byers,  Professor,  Portrait  of,  1 1 1 


"Charities  of  Sir  Richard  Whitting- 
ton,"  Panel  for  Royal  Exchange, 
103 

Chevillon's,  Inn  at  Gre 

Chicago,  Medal  awarded  "  Eurydice 
sinking  back  to  Hades"  at  Inter- 
national Exhibition  at,  47 

"Chloe,"     First     exhibit     at    Royal 
my,  _,_ 

Clandehovc,  Visit  of  Mrs.  Normand 
to,  108 

Classics.  Mrs.  Normand's  love  for,  X4 

Cummi;..^.  Dr.  W.  II.  F.S.A.,  Por- 
trait of,  103 


Daily  .V.  ws,  The,  on  "  Psyche  before 
the  Throne  of  Venus,"  83 


n6 


INDEX. 


Daily  Telegraph,  The,  on  *'  Eurydice 
sinking  back  to  Hades,"  46 

Davis,  Marcus,  Portrait  of,  76 

"  Day  Dreams,"  Exhibited  at  Institute 
of  Painters  in  Oil  Colours,  75 

'•  Day  Dreams,"  Exhibited  at  New 
Gallery,  103 

"  Death  of  Procris,"  Exhibited  at 
Royal  Academy  (1889),  52;  Diffi- 
culties in   connection   with  painting 

of.  53-  54 
"Diana,''  Decoration   for  Mr.   Athol 

Thome's  House,  no 
"  Diana    and  Callisto,"    Exhibited  at 

Royal  Academy,  loo 
Dore     Gallery,    The,    Exhibition    of 

works  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.   Normand 

at,  86 
"  Doubts,"       Exhibited      at      Royal 

Academy,  38 
Dudley  Gallery,  Henrietta  Rae's  early 

exhibits  at,  27,  29 
Dufferin,  The  Marquess   of,  Portrait 

for   Belfast    Yacht  Club   of,    lot)  ; 

Exhibited  at  Royal  Academy,  109  ; 

Portrait  by  Watts  of,  107 ;  second 

portrait  by  Mrs.  Normand  of,  109 


Early  Life  of  Henrietta  Rae,  16 

"  Edie,"  Exhibited  at  New  Gallery,  89 

Education  of  Henrietta  Rae,  Musical, 

17,  18,  19 ;  artistic,   18  et  seq. 
"  Elaine  Guarding  the  Shield  of  Lance- 
lot," at  Grosvenor  Gallery,  38 
"  Eurydice   sinking  back    to   Hades," 

exhibited  at    Royal    Academy,  44  ; 

purchased    by    Mr.    Beeforth,   45  ; 

Daily     Telegraph,    The,    on,    46 ; 

Punch  caricature  of,  46  ;    at  Paris 

and  Chicago,  47 


Fitzroy  Square,  Mr.  and  Mrs.    Nor- 

mand's  studio  in,  29 
Flesh-painting,  Mrs.   Normand's  love 


of,  36,  90  ;  Sir  J.  E.  Millais  on  Mrs. 

Normand's  work  in,  75 
"  Flowers  Plucked  and  Cast  Aside," 

Exhibited  at  Royal  Academy,  76 ; 

sent  to  Moscow  and  purchased  by 

Mr.  Schulz,  76,  90 
Ford,  E.   Onslow,    R.A.,   on    model 

of  figure  of  "  Procris,"  55 


Gibson,  John,  R.A.,  and  the  Nude 
in  Art,  37 

'*  Glimpse  of  Sunshine,  A,"  27 

Grez,  Description  of,  by  R.  A.  M. 
Stevenson,  63  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand's visit  to,  65  ;  Life  at,  65 ; 
Deterioration  of,  as  artists'  resort,  72 

Grosvenor  Gallery,  The,  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand's Exhibits  at,  37,  51,  56 


H 

Heatherley's  School  of  Art,  Position 
of ;  Henrietta  Rae  first  woman 
pupil  at  evening  classes  at,  22 

"Her  Eyes  are  Homes  of  Silent 
Prayer,"  Exhibited  at  New  Gallery, 

103 

Holland    Park    Road,  Mr.    and    Mrs. 

Normand's  House  in,  35,  47 
Holloway,     Henrietta    Rae's     home 

at.  16 
Holroyd,  Sir   Charles,  Mr.   and   Mrs. 

Normand's  meeting  in    Italy  with, 

94 

I 

Impressionists  at  Grez,  69 

Individuality  of  Henrietta  Rae's 
Art,  15 

"  In  Listening  Mood,"  Exhibited  at 
New    Gallery,  112 

Institute  of  Painters  in  Oil  Colours, 
Mrs.  Normand's  Exhibits  at,  75,  76 

International  Exhibition,  Paris  (1889), 
Mrs.  Normand  awarded  Honourable 
Mention  for  '*  Eurydice,"  47  ;  1899, 
Honourable     Mention      for     "  La 


INDEX. 


1 1 


i       ilc,"     75 ;      <  Medal 

irded  for  "  Eurydicc,"  47 
M.i,''      Exhibited     at      R 
iy,  100 
Italy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand'a  first 

Visit  to,  mi 


J 


Jones,  I  >r.  MacNaughten,  Portrait  of, 
11 1 


"  La  Cigale,"  Exhibited  at  Royal 
Academy,  73 ;  Leighton  on  lack 
of  "Edge"  in,  74;  Millais  on 
flesh-painting  in,  75  ;  awarded 
Honourable   Mention,  Paris,  75 

"La  fille  de  1'Ancienne  Nobles 

"Lady  of  the  Lamp,  The,''  Painted 
for  Messrs.  Cassell  &  Co.,  75 

"  Lancelot  and  Elaine,''  at  Royal 
Academy,  1883,  31  ;  Method  of 
painting  of,  32 

Landscape,  Henrietta  Kae's  work  in, 
27,  30,  70 

Lefebvre,  Jules,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand  as  Pupils  of,  61 

1  hton,  Lord,  as  neighbour  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Xormand,  35  ;  First  call 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  upon 
and  friendship  with,  39  ;  Method  of 
work,  40  ;  Interest  in  work  of  Mrs. 
Normand  by,  47  ;  Suggestion  with 
reference  to  "  Death  of  Procris  "  by, 
5 1  ;  on  "  Ophelia,"  58  ;  on  "  edgy  " 
quality  in  Painting,  74  ;  criticises 
"  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of 
Venus,"  81  ;  Letter  to  Mr. 
McCulloch,82;  Criticism  of"  Apollo 
and  Daphne,''  £8 ;  Panel  for  J 
Royal  Exchange,  "  Phoenicians  j 
Bartering  with  Ancient  Britons," 
and  method  of  Painting,  105 

Long,  Edward,  R.A.,  as  "hanger" 
at  Royal  Academy  Exhibition,  e  3  ; 
Meeting  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand in  Paris,  01 

"  Loot,''  112 

"Love's  Young  Dream,"  31  ;  Replica 
of,  33  ;  Style  of,  38 


M 


McCulloeh,  G 

"  Psyche     before     the      J 

Venus," 
" Magazine   of  Art"1     on     "Psyche 

before  the  Throne    of  Venus,"  82  ; 

on  "  Sirens,"    1 11 
•'  Mariana,"      Exhibited     at       Royal 

Academy, 

Exhibited   at    Institute 

of  Oil  Painters,  76 
Millais,  Sir  J.  E.,  P.  R.A.,  Friendship 

ol  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  with,  47  ; 

and   the  hanging  of  "  Ophelia  •'   at 

R.A..  59;  on  "LaCigale,"  7  = 
•'  Miriam,"      Exhibited      at        1 ! 

Academy,  31 
Morris,     William,     "  Earthly     1 

dise,"   80,  8l,  I09 


N 


••  Naiad,  A,"  Exhibited  at  Royal 
Academy,  44  ;  The  Times  on,  45 

New  Gallery,  Mrs.  Normand's  Ex- 
hibits at,  70,  85,  89,  103,  no,  in, 
112 

Newton,  H.  K.,  Portrait  of,  103 

Newton,  Lady,  Portrait  of,  Exhibited 
at  the  Royal  Academy,  103 

Newton,  Miss  Muriel,  as  model  fur 
"  Isabella,"  99 

Normand,  Ernest,  Influence  of,  on  the 
art  of  Mrs.  Normand,  13,   14;  First 
meeting  with  Henrietta  Rae,  21  ;  at 
Royal  Academy   Schools,  25  ;  En- 
gagement with  Henrietta  Rae,  28  ; 
Portrait    of,     30 ;     Marriage, 
Constructional     ability     of,    Model 
for  figure   of   "Procris,"    Bow  for 
Lord      Leighton's      "  Hit,"      54  ; 
"  Vashti       Deposed,"      at      Royal 
lemy,  58  ;  decides  to  study  i:i 
Paris,    60;   Impressions  of  vis 
Italy  by,  91  ;   Panel   for  Royal  Ex- 
change, "  King  John  granting  M 
Charta,"  I04 

Normand,     Mrs.    Ernest.       S 
Henrietta 


Ii8 


INDEX. 


Normand,    George   Barten,    Portraits 

of,  30 
Nude,    The,    Mrs.    Normand    as   a 

painter  of,  35,  36,  45,  46,  89,  Iol  ; 

Objections  to,  36,  101 


o 


"  Ophelia,"  Difficulties  in  painting  of, 
57;  Exhibited  at  Royal  Academy  and 
bad  hanging  of,  58  :  purchased  for 
Walker  Art  Gallery,  Liverpool,  59 


"  Pandora,"  Exhibited  at  New  Gallery, 

85 
Paris,  Honeymoon  spent  at,  33  ; 
"  Eurydice  sinking  back  to  Hades  " 
awarded  Honourable  Mention  at 
International  Exhibition  at  (1889), 
47  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Normand  as 
students  in,  61 ;  "La  Cigale" 
awarded  Honourable  Mention  at 
International  Exhibition  at  (1899), 

75 

Parton,  Ernest,  Meeting  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Normand  with,  at  Grez,  66 

"  Passion  Flowers,"  31 

Penley,  W.  S.,  17 

Portraitist,  Henrietta  Rae's  work  as  a, 
28,  30,  31,  33,  86, 103,  106,  no,  in 

Prinsep,  Val  C.,  R.A.,  35 ;  Friend- 
ship of  the  Normands  with,  39,  47 

Punch,  Caricature  of  "  Eurydice 
sinking  back  to  Hades  "  in,  46 

"  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of  Venus," 
commenced  in  1892,  76 ;  Special 
studio  built  for,  78  ;  Completion  of 
and  exhibition  at  Royal  Academy, 
79,  80 ;  Purchased  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Culloch,  82  ;  Criticisms  of,  82,  83  ; 
Exhibition  at  Liverpool  of,  85 


Queen  Square  School  of  Art,  The, 
Henrietta  Rae  at,  19  ;  Method  of 
teaching  at,  19,  20 


R 

Rae,  Charles,  uncle  of  artist :  Pupil 
of    Cruikshank,     18 ;    advises    art 
training  for  Henrietta  Rae,  19 
Rae,  Henrietta,  Self-depreciation    of, 
10  ;  Lack  of  facilities  in  art  educa- 
tion  of,  10  ;  as  woman   artist,   13  ; 
Help  in  art  matters  from   her  hus- 
band,    13 ;      Influence     of     Ernest 
Normand  on  her  art,  14  ;  Differences 
in  art  of  Mr.  and   Mrs.   Normand, 
15  ;  Born    at     Hammersmith,    16 ; 
Early  recollections  of  life  at  Hollo- 
way,  16  ;  Musical  training  from  her 
mother,    17;  Preliminary     engage- 
ment as  vocalist,  19  ;  Sent  to  Queen 
Square   School   of  Art,    19  ;  Early 
efforts  at  oil-painting,  21  ;  at  British 
Museum,   21  ;    First    girl  pupil   at 
Heatherley's   evening   classes,  22  ; 
gains  admission    to    R.A.    schools, 
24  ;  First  portraits,  25;  Attends  class 
for  study  of  nude,  26  ;  "  Tadema  " 
phase  in  art  of,  26  ;  First  exhibits  at 
Royal    Society    of  British    Artists, 
Dudley    Gallery     Exhibition,     and 
Royal     Academy,    27 ;    Studies   in 
landscape,    28 ;  Engagement    with 
Mr.  Ernest  Normand,  28  ;  Friend- 
ship with  John  Steeple,  28;  First  com- 
missions, 28,  29  ;  Studio  in  Fitzroy 
Square,  29 ;  Exhibits  in  1881-2,  29, 
30  ;  Exhibits  in  1883,  31 ;  Marriage, 
33  ;  Studio  in  Wright's  Lane,  34  ; 
Love  for  classic  subjects   and  early 
expression    of,    34  ;  Love  of  flesh- 
painting,  36  ;  Birth   of  son,  36  ;  as 
painter  of  the  nude,  37  ;  Friendship 
with  Val  Prinsep,  R.A.,  and  Lord 
Leighton,  39  ;  Influence  of  Leighton 
on  art  of,  43  ;  Reputation  enhanced 
by    "  Eurydice     sinking     back    to 
Hades"    and     "A     Naiad,"    46; 
Awarded   medal     at   Chicago,  and 
Honourable  Mention  at  Paris,  47  ; 
Work  of    1888,    51  ;    Self-imposed 
difficulties  in  connection  twith  work, 
S3  ;  Difficulty  with  "  Ophelia,"  57  ; 
Bad  hanging  of"  Ophelia  "  at  Royal 
Academy,    58 ;    decides    to    go   to 


INDEX. 


i 1  i 


Paris,  no  ;   as  pupil  "i    Benjamin- 
Constant  and  Lefebvre  at  Juli 
61 ;  Life  at   Grez,  63;    -is  impres- 
list,  70 ;  Birth  ol  daughter,  76; 

Removal  to  Norwood,  77  ;  as 
"  hanger"  at  Liverpool,  78  ;  exhibits 
works  at  Dor  Gallery,  86  ;  Beauty 
lesh-painting  01,90;  Visit  to  Italy, 
mi  ;  as  President  of  the  Women's 
Art  Section  of  the  Victorian  I 
hibition,  loo  ;  visits  Clandeboye  to 
complete  portrait  of  Marquess  ot 
Dufferin,  108  ;  Serious  illness,  no; 
Art  of,  113 

Rae,  Mrs.,  mother  of  the  artist,  id,   17 

Rae,  Thomas  Burbey,  father  of  the 
artist,  Id  ;  Secretary  of  Whittington 
Club,  17 

Renshaw,  Lady  Winifred,  Portrait 
of,  III 

•'  Reverie,  A,"  Exhibited  at  the 
Grosvenor  Gallery,  51 

Richmond,  Sir  William,  K.C.B., 
lends  his  Studio  for  "  Psyche  be- 
fore the  Throne   of  Venus,"    79 

'•  Hoses  of  Youth,"  Exhibited  at 
New  Gallery,  I03 

Royal  Academy,  non-recognition  of 
women  artists  by,  11  ;  "  Chloe," 
Henrietta  Rae's  first  Exhibit  at 
(1880),  27;  Portrait  of  Miss  Warman 
at  (1881),  29;  Portrait  of  Ernest 
Normand,  Esq.,  at  (1882),  30; 
"Miriam"  and  Portrait  of  Miss 
Lilian  Woodcock  at  (1883),  31  ; 
•' Lancelot  and  Elaine"  (1884)  at, 
31;  "  Ariadne"  (1885)  at,  35; 
"  Doubts  "  1 1886)  at,  38  ;  "  Eurydice 
sinking  back  to  Hades"  and  "A 
Naiad"  (1887)  at.  44;  "  Zephyrus 
Wooing  Flora"  at  (1888),  49; 
"  Death  of  Procris"  at  (1889),  53  ; 
"Ophelia"  at  (1890),  58;  "La 
Cigale"  at  (1891),  75  ;  "  Mariana  " 
at  (18QJ),  70  ;  ••  Flower:;  Plucked 
and  Cast  Aside"  at  (1893),  76; 
"  Psyche  before  the  Throne  of 
Venus"  at  (1894),  82;  "Apollo 
and  Daphne"  at  (1895),  87; 
"Summer1'  at  (1896),  89;  Portrait 
of   Mr.    Beeforth     at     (1896),   91  ; 


"  I  '-  ( I S97) ,  loo 

and     Callisto  '      at  .    100; 

l  (Idoo), 

10;  :     Portrait    of      Marqueai 

1  >ullerm  at  ( 1900),  lov ;  "  Sirens  "  at 
(1903),    no;      Portrait    of      I 
Winifred  Renshaw  and   her  Son  at 
(1903),  III  ;"  Songs  of  the  Morning' 
at  (n*>4),   112 

Royal     Academy    Schools,    Women 
Students     at,       II  ;    Conditions     of 
admission  to,  2\  ;   Henrietta  R 
-4 

Royal  Exchange  Panel,  comparison 
between  that  of  Mrs.  Normand  and 
Mr.  Normand.  15  ;  Execution  of, 
103 

Royal    Society    of   British     Artists- 
Henrietta  Rae's  First  Exhibit  at,  27  ; 
Exhibits  at,  in  1880-r,  28  ;  in  I 
3o 


St.  Louis  Exhibition,  "Sirens"  ex- 
hibited and  sold  at,  in 

"Sappho,''  Study,  Execution  of,  26  ; 
Purchased  by  John  Steeple,  31 

Scarborough,  Visits  to,  86 ;  Back- 
ground of  "  Summer  "  pain  ted  at. 
90 

Schulz,  John  (of  Moscow),  Purchaser 
of  "Flowers  Plucked  and  Cast 
Aside,"  70,  90 

Segantini,  Giovanni,  "  Punishment 
of  Luxury  "  purchased  for  Liverpool 
Gallery,  79 

"Sirens,"  Exhibited  at  Royal 
Academy,  no;  Sold  at    St.  Louis, 

Tt  I 

"  Sketch  near  Lee,"  First  Exhibit 
at  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists, 

-: 

•'  Sleep,"     Exhibited    at      Grosvenor 

Gallery,  56 
"  Songs  of  the   Morning,"    Exhibited 

at  Royal  Academy,  112 
Spiclmann,  M,  H.,  on  "  Psyche  before 

the  Throne  of  Venus,"  82 
"Spring,"    Exhibited  at  New  Gallery, 

70 


120 


INDEX. 


Steeple,  John,  Friendship  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Normand  with,  28  ;  Intro- 
duction from,  to  Mr.  Woodcock,  32  ; 
Portrait  of,  33 

Stevenson,  R.  A.  M.,  on  Grez,  63 

"  Still  Waters  "  at  Dudley  Gallery.  29 

Stone,  Marcus,  R.A.,  Influence  of 
style  of,  on  Mrs.  Normand,  38 

"  Study  from  Life,  A,"  at  Royal 
Society  of  British  Artists,  28 

"  Summer,"  Exhibited  at  Royal 
Academy,  89 

Surridge,  W.  A  ,  Portrait  of,  31 ;  as 
model  for  head  of  Whittington,  104 

"  Sylvia,"  Exhibited  at  Grosvenor 
Gallery,  56 


Terriss,  William,  17 

Thacker,  Mrs.  S.,  Portrait  of,  30 

Thacker,  Samuel,  commissions  por- 
traits, 28 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  as  Treasurer  of 
Whittington  Club,  17 

"  The  Way  is  Cold  and  Dark  and 
Drear,"  27 

Thorne,  Athol,  Commissions  for 
decorations  from,  no 

"  Through  the  Woods,"  oil  painting, 
28  ;  charcoal  drawing,  29 

"  Time  of  Roses,  The,"  at  Suffolk 
Street,  30 

limes,  The,  on  "  A  Naiad,''  45 


"  Venus  Enthroned,"  Decoration  for 
Mr.  Athol  Thome's  House,  no 

Victorian  Exhibition,  The,  Mrs.  Nor- 
mand President  of  the  Women's 
Art  Section  of,  loo 

Vladimirovitch,  The  Grand  Duke 
Boris,  Purchaser  of  *'  Summer,"  go 


w 

Walker     Art      Gallery,       Liverpool, 

"  Ophelia"  purchased  for,  59;   Mrs. 

Normand  as  "  hanger  ''  at,  78 
Warman,  Miss,  Portrait   of,  at  Royal 

Academy,  29,  30 
Watts,   G.    F„    R.A.,   Friendship   of 

Mr.  and   Mrs.  Normand  with,  47  ; 

Extraordinary  knowledge  of  anatomy 

of,  50  ;  lends  his  studio  for  Marquess 

of  Dufferin's  Portrait,  106 
Whittington  Club,  Mr.   T.    B.    Rae's 

connection  with,  16  ;  Thackeray  as 

treasurer  of,  17 
Women     in     Art,    Position    of,     10 ; 

Difficulties  of,  12 
Woodcock,  Miss  Lilian,  Portrait  of,  31 
Wright's    Lane,     Studio    of   Mr.  and 

Mrs.  Normand  in,  34 


u 

Underbay,  George,  Portrait  of,  33 


"  Zephyrus  Wooing  Flora,"  Exhibited 
at  Royal  Academy  (1888),  49  ;  Mr. 
G.  F.  Watts,  R.A.,  and,  50 


Printed  by  Cassell  &  Co.,  Limited,  La   Belle  Sauvage,  London,  E.C. 


A  Selection 


from 


Cassell   &   Company's 


Publications. 


io  G— 905 


*       A  Selection  from  Cassell  &  Company's  Publications, 


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4      A  Selection  front  Cassell  6-  Company's  Publications . 


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A  Selection  from  Cassell  6"  Company  s  Publication*        5 


QUILLER  COUCH(.\. T.).  Continued— 

♦Tin  KING     Hi   TORY    OP 

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Social  England.   By  Various  Writers. 

Edited     by    H.     D.     Traill, 

D.C.L.,   and   J.  S.  Mann,  M.A. 

Library   l\dition.      Six  Vols.  14s. 

net  each. 

SPIELMANN  (M.  H.)— 
Ruskin.  John :  A  Sketch  of  His 
Life,  His  Work,  and  His  Opinions, 
with  Personal  Reminiscences.   5s. 


Standard  Library,  Cassell 

:i.) 

STANDING  I 
Sir  Lawrence  Alma-Tadema,0  M  , 
R.A.      V.  oured    i 

other  Illustrations.     5s.  1 

STEVENSON  (R.  L.)— 

2S.   : 

The  Black  Arrow.  Catriona. 
Kidnapped.  Master  of  Ballan- 
trae.  Treasure  Island.  The 
Wrecker. 

TREVES     ('Sir     Frederick,    Bart, 
V.O.,  &c.  &c.)— 
The  Other  Side  of  the  Lantern. 
With 40  Full-page  Plates.    12s. 

Turner,  J.  3VL  W.,  R.A.,  The  Watsr- 
Colour  Sketches  of,  in  tho 
ational  Gallery.  With  58  Fac- 
simile Reproductions  in  Col 
With  DescriptiveText  byTHEODORE 
A.  Cook,  M.A.,  F.S.A.  £2,  3s, 

WALLACE  (Sir  D.  Mackenzie)— 
Russia.     With   2  Maps.     2  Vols., 
net. 

WALMSLEY       (R.        Mullineux, 
D.Sc.)— 
Electricity  in  the  Service  of  Man. 
With  1, 200  Illustrations.  10s.6d.net. 

WRIGHT  (LEWIS)- 
The  New  Book  of  Poultry.     With 
30  Colo-:  tes  by  J.  W.  Lud- 

low, and  other  Illustrations.     21s. 

WRIGHT  (Walter  P.)— 
Cassell's  Dictionary  of  Practical 
Gardening.  Edited  by.  With 
20  Coloured  Plates  and  numerous 
II  ustrations.  Two  Vols.,  30s.  net. 
Cassell's  Popular  Gardening. 
Edited  by.  With  24  Coloured 
I 'lues  and  numerous  Illustrations. 
2  Vols.,  30s.  net. 

Pictorial  Practical  Flower  Gar- 
dening.    Wilh  about  100  Illu 
tions.     is.  net  ;  cloth,  is.  6d-  net. 

%*  Sepai  -  if  the  "  Pi  I 

Practical "  Handbooks  issued. 

WYLLIE  (W.  I...  A.R.A.)— 
Marine  Painting  in  Water- Colour. 
With  24  Coloured  Plates. 

WILLCOX  (Ella  Wheeler)— 
A  Woman  of  the  World.    6s. 


6        A  Selection  from  Cassell  &  Company's  Publications. 


Bibles  and  Religious  Works. 


Bible  Biographies.  Illus.  is.  6d.  each. 

THE    STORY  OF  MOSES  AND  JOSHUA.      By 

the  Rev.  J.  Telford. 
The  story  OF  THE  JUDGES.     By  the  Rev. 

].  WycliffeGedgc. 
The  story  of  Samuel  and  Saul.  By  the 

Rev.  D  C.  Tovey. 
The  Story  OF  David     By  the  Rev.  J.  Wild. 
THh    STORY  OF  JOSEPH.     Its    Lessons  for 

To-day.     By  the  Rev.  George  Bainton. 
The  Story  of  Jesus.    In  Verse     By  J.  R. 

Macduff,  U.D. 

BUKN(Rev.  J.  W.,B.D.,F.R.S.E.)  — 
Aids  to  Practical  Religion.  Selec- 
tions from  the  Writ  ngs  and  Ad- 
dresses of  W.  Boyd  Carpenter, 
Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon.     3s.  6d. 

Cassell's  Family  Bible.  With  Ex- 
planatory Notes,  Maps,  References, 
and  a  Condensed  Concordance. 
Illustrated  with  more  than  900 
highly  finished  Engravings.  Full 
leather,  gilt  edges,  25s.  net  ; 
superior  leather,  with  clasps  and 
corners,  31s.  6d.  net. 

Cassell's  Family  Bible.  With  900 
Illustrations.  Toned  paper  edition. 
Leather,  gilt  edge?,  £2  103. 

ELLICOTT  (Dr.)  — 
Bible  Commentary   for   English 
Readers.  Edited  by.     With     Con- 
tributions by  eminent  Scholars  and 
Divines  : — 

NEW  Testament.  Popular  Edition.  Un- 
abridged.    Three  Vols.    6s.  each. 

OLD  TkstamENT.  Popular  Edition.  Un- 
abridged.    Five  Vols.    6s.  each. 

Special  Pocket  Editions  of  the  New 
Testament  Volumes.  2s.  each;  leather 
limp,  2S.  6d.  net  each. 

FARRAR  (Dean)— 
The  Life  and  Work  of  St.  Paul. 
Cheap  Edition.  With  16  Full-page 
Plates,  3s.  6d.  ;  paste  grain,  5s. 
net ;  Popular  Edition,  7s.  6d.  ; 
New  Illustrated  qto  Edition, 
10s.  6d.  net ;  Original  Illustrated 
Edition,  £o.  2s. 

The  Early  Days  of  Christianity. 
Library  Edition.  Two  Vols., 
24s.  ;  morocco,  £o.  2s.  Popular 
Edition.  Complete  in  One  Volume. 
Cloth,  gilt  edges,  7s.  6d.  Cheap 
Edition,  cloth  gilt,  3s.  6d.  ;  paste 
grain,  15s.  net. 

The  Life  of  Christ.  Clieap  Edi- 
tion. With  16  Full-page  Plates. 
3s.  6d.  ;  paste  grain,  5s.  net. 
Illustrated  Quarto  Edition,  Bio- 
graphical Edition,  10s.  6d.  net. 
Original  Illustrated  Edition,  2rs. 
Life  of  Lives,  The:  Further 
Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ. 
15s.     Popular  Edition^     7s.  6d. 


GEIKIE  (Rev.  Cunningham,  D.L  )— 
Holy  Land  and  the  Bible.  Cheap 
Edition,  7s.  6d.  Superior  Edi- 
tion. With  24  Plates.  Cloth  gilt, 
gilt  edges,  10s.  6d.  "  Quiver" 
Edition.  With  8  Full-page  Illus- 
trations, 2S.  6d.  net. 

HUNTER  (Rev.  Robert,  LL.D.)— 
CasseU's  Concise  Bible    Diction- 
ary.    Illustrated.      Cheap  Edition, 
3s.  6d. 

Life  and  Work  of  the  Redeemer. 
By  Rev.  H.  D.  M.  Spence,  D.D., 
Most  Rev.  W.  Alexander,  D.D., 
Prof.  Marcus  Dods,  D.D.,  Rt. 
Rev.  H.  Moule,  D.D.,  Rev. 
Lyman  Abbot,  D.D.,  Rev.  F.  B. 
Meyer,  B.A.,  Right  Rev.  W. 
Boyd  Carpenter,  D.D.,  Very 
Rev.  W.  Lefroy  D.D.,  Rt.  Rev. 
W.  C.  Doane,  D.D.,  Rev.  James 
Stalker,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  M. 
Fairbairn,  D.D.,  and  Rev. 
Alex.  McLaren,  D.D.  Illus- 
trated. "  Quiver"  Edition.  With 
8  Full-page  Illustrations.    2s.  6d.  net. 

MAGEE  (Wm.  Connor,  D.D.),  late 
Archbishop  of  York — 
The  Atonement,     is. 

MAIT LAND  (Rev.  Brownlow,!/.^.) 
Miracles,     is. 

Quiver.  Yearly  Volume,  With 
about  800  Original  Illustrations,  14 
Coloured  Plates,  and  2  Rembrar.dt 
Photogravures  ;  also  Serial  Stories 
by  Popular  Writers,  about  40  Com- 
plete Stories,  &c.     7s.  6d. 

SPENCE  (Very  Rev.  H.  D.  M., 
D.D.,  Dean  of  Gloucester) — 
The  Church  of  England.  A 
History  for  the  People.  Illustrated. 
Complete  in  Four  Vols.  6s.  each. 
Early  Christianity  and  Paganism. 
Illustrated.     Cheap  Edition.    7s.  6d. 

The  Child's  Bible.  With  100  Illus- 
trations and  Coloured  Plates.  New 
Edition.     10s.  6d. 

The  Child  "  Wonderful."  A  unique 
Series  of  Pictures  representing  In- 
cidents in  the  Early  Life  of  the 
Saviour,  reproduced  in  colour  with 
accompanying  text.  By  W.  S. 
Stacey. 

WYLIE  (Rev.  J.  A.,  LL.D.)— 
The   History  of    Protestantism. 
Containing  upwards  of  600   Orig- 
inal Illustrations.     Cheap  Edition. 
Three  Vols.    5s.  each. 


A  Selection  from  Cassell  &  Company's  Publications.      7 


Educational  Works  and  Students'  Manuals. 


fiJsop's  Fables.  In  words  of  one 
syllable.  With  4  Coloured  Plates 
ami  numerous  Illustrations.     6d. 

Blackboard  Drawing.  By  W.  E, 
Sparkes,     Ulusti  ited.    3s.  6d. 

Book  -  Keeping.       Hy      THEODORE 
JONES.    For  Schools,  2s. ;  cloth,  3s. 
For    the    Million,    2s.  ;    cloth,    3s. 
ks  for  Jones's  System,  2s. 

Chemistry,  The  Public  School.  By 
J.  II.  Anderson,  M.A.    2s.  6d. 

"Eyes  and  No  Eyes"  Series  (Cas- 
seli'si.  By  Arabi  lla  Buckley. 
With  <  oloured  Plates  and  otht-r 
Illustrations.  Six  Books.  4d.  and 
6d.  each.    Complete  Volume,  3s.  6d. 

Fair/  Tales  Old  and  New.  With  a 
>cries  of  Coloured  Plates  and 
Numerous  Illustrations.  3s.  6d. 
Also  in  five  books,  6d.  each. 

French,  Cassell's  Lessons  in.  Cheap 
Edition.  In  Two  Parts.  Cloth, 
is,  6d.  each.  Complete  in  One 
Vol.,  2s.  6d.    Key,  is.  6d. 

French-English  and  English-French 
Dictionary,  Cassell's  New.  Edited 
by  James  Boielle,  B.A.    7s.  6d. 

French-English  and  English-French 
Dictionary.  1,150  pages.  Cloth  or 
buckram,  3s.  6d. ;  half-morocco,  5s. 

Gaudeamus.  Songs  for  Colleges  and 
Schools.  Edited  byJoiiN  FARMER. 
5s.  Words  only,  paper  covers,  6d. ; 
cloth,  od. 

German  Dictionary,  Cassell's.  (Ger- 
man -  English,  Engl:  ;h  -  Gei  man.) 
Cheap  Edition.  Cloth,  3s.  6d  ;  half- 
morocco,  5s. 

Greek  Heroes.  New  Supplementary 
Reader.  With  4  Coloured  Plates, 
&c.     6d.  ;  cloth,  is. 

King   Solomon's   Mines.     Abridged 
,  lor  Schools,     is.  3d. 

Latin  -  English  and  English  -  Latin 
Dictionary.     3s.  6d.  and  5s. 

Latiu  Primer,  The  First.  By  Prof. 
POSTGAl  1:.      IS. 

Latin  Primer,  The  New.  By  Prof. 
J.  P.  PosTGATE.  Crown  8vo, 
2s.  6d. 

Latin  Prose  for  Lower  Forms.  By 
M.  A.  Bayfield,  .1/..-/.     2s.  6d. 

Marlborough      Books  :—  Arithmetic 

ExampL  ed.    3s.        French 

rcises,  35.  6d.  French  Grammar, 

2S.  6d.     German  Grammar,  3s.  od. 


Object  Lessons  from  Nature. 
Prof.  L  1  .  MiALL,  P.L.S.     Fully 
Illu  ■ 

Editi  <tt.      1  v.  -  Vol    .1 
Physiology  for  Schools.     By  A.    I. 

S(  HOI  II.I.I),  M.D.,  Xr.    1 

Cloth,  is.  od.  ;    1 

5d.  each  ;  or  cloth  limp,  6 

Reader,  The  Citizen,  By  th 
II.    O.   Arnold  F01  n er,   m.a. 
Revised,  Re-set,  and  Re-illustrated, 
is.   6d.      Also  a  Scottish  Ed: 
cloth,  is.  6d. 

Readers,  Cassell's  Union  Jack 
Series.  With  Coloured  Plates  and 
numerous  Illustrations.  6  Books, 
from  8d.  each. 

Readers  for  Infant  Schools,  Col- 
oured.    Three  Books.     4d.  each. 

Round  the  Empire.  By  G.  R. 
PARKIN.  Fully  Illustrated.  Ne* 
and  Revised  Edition,     is.  6d. 

Shakspere's  Plays  for  School  Use. 
7  Books.     Illustrated.     6d.  each. 

Spelling,   A   Complete  Manual  of. 

By  J.   D.  Morell,  EL.D.     Cloth, 

is.     Cheap  i  'id. 

Spending  and  Saving  :  A  Primer  of 

Thrift.   By  Alfred  Pinhorn.  is. 

Swiss  Family  Robinson.  In  words 
of  one  syllable.  With  4  Coloured 
Plates.     6d. 

Things  New  and  Old ;  or,  Stories 
from  English  History.  By  the  Rt 
Hon.  H.  O.  ARN  ld-1  ster, 
M.A.  Illustrated.  7  Books,  from 
9d.  to  is.  8d. 

This  World  of  Ours.     By  the   Rl 

Hon.      II.      O.      ARNOLD-FORSTi  K, 

M.A.     Illustrated.    Cheap  Ed: 
2S.  6d. 
"Wild  Flowers"  Sheets.  Cassell's 
12  Sheets,  each  containing   10  ex- 
amples   of    familiar    wild    flowers, 
beautifully   reproduced   in    colours 
and  varnished,     is  6d.  each. 

"  Wild    Birds "    Sheets,    Cassell's. 
Selected      and      Edited      by      R. 
KEARTON,    F.Z.S.     Each    stv 
mounted    on    Board,    with     Cord 
.in  1     CO  ight 

s  of  Familiar  Wild  Birds, 
beautifully  reproduced  in  Colours 
and  Varnished.  S  1  S  its,  is.  6d. 
each.     Unmounted,  6d.  each. 


8        A  Selection  from  Cassell  &  Company's  Publications. 

Books  for  the  Little  Ones* 


BONSER  (A.  E.)— 
Cassell's    Natural    History    lor 
Young    People.      With    Coloured 
Frontispiece  and  numerous  Illustra- 
tions.    6s. 
ELLIS  (Edward  S.)— 
The  Lost  River.     With  Four  Full- 
page  Illustrations,     is. 
River  and   Forest.      With   Four 
Full-page  Illustrations,      is. 
HAMER  (S.  H.)— 
Archibald's  Amazing  Adventure. 
With     4     Coloured      Plates     and 
Numerous  Illustrations  by  Harry 
Rountree.  Picture  Boards,  is.  6d. ; 
Cloth,  2S. 

The  Little  Folks  Adventure  Book. 
With  Coloured  Plate  and  Illustra- 
tions.    3s.  6d. 

The  Little  Folks  Picture  Album 
in  Colours.  With  48  Illustrations 
in  Colours.     5s. 

The  Little  Folks  Animal  Book. 
With  Coloured  Plate  and  Illustra- 
tions.    3s.  6d. 

Cheepy  the  Chicken :    Being  an 
Account   of   some   of   his   most 
Wonderful    Doings.      With   Four 
Coloured     Plates    and     numerous 
Illustrations    by    Harry    Roun- 
tree.    is.  6d.  ;  cloth,  2s. 
Animal  Land  for  Little  People. 
Illustrated,      is.  6d. 
Birds,  Beasts,  and  Fishes.    With 
Four     Coloured     Plates    and    nu- 
merous Illustrations,     is.  6d. 
Master    Charlie.      Illustrated    by 
C.      S.      Harrison.         Coloured 
boards,  is.  6d. 

Micky  Magee*s  Menagerie ;  or, 
Strange  Animals  and  their 
Doings.  With  Eight  Coloured 
Plate-;  and  other  Illustrations  by 
Harry    B.    Neilson.      is.    6d. ; 

Cloth,   2S. 

Peter  Piper's  Peepshow.  With 
Illustrations  by  H.  B.  Neilson  and 
Lewis  Baumer.     is.   6d.  ;    cloth, 

2S. 

Quackles,  Junior:  Bei-.g  the  Ex- 
traordinary Adventures  of  a  Duck- 
ling. With  Four  Coloured  Plates 
and  other  Illustrations  by  Harry 
Rountree.     is.   6d.  ;  cloth,  2s. 


HAMER  (S.    H.)    Continued— 
The  Ten  Travellers.    With   Four 
Coloured     Plates    and     numerous 
Illustrations  by  Harry  B.    Neil- 
son.    is.  6d.  ;  cloth,  2s. 
The     Jungle     School;     or     Dr. 
Jibber-Jabber   Burchall's    Acad- 
emy.     With    Illustrations    by    H. 
B.  Neilson.     is.  6d. ;  cloth,  2s. 
Whys     and    Other    Whys;     or, 
Curious     Creatures    and    Their 
Tales.      By    S.    H.     Hamkr    and 
Harry      B.      Neilson.        Paper 
boards,  2s.  6d.  ;  cloth,  3s.  6d. 
Bo-Peep.   A  Treasury  for  the  Little 
Ones.      With  4  Full-page  Coloured 
Plates,   and  numerous  oth  r  Illus- 
trations.    Yearly  Volume.    Picture 
boards,  2s.  6d.  ;  cloth,  3s.  6d. 
The  Lit.le  Folks  Sunday  Book. 
With  Coloured  Plates  and  Full-page 
Illustrations.     5s. 

The  Little  Folks  Book  of  Heroes. 
With  Coloured  Frontispiece  and 
numerous  Illustrations.     3s.  6d. 

KNOX  (Isa  Craig)— 
The     Little     Folks    History    of 
England.       With    30   Illustrations 
and  4  Coloured  Plates,     is.  6d. 

"  Little  Folks  "  Half-Yearly  Volume. 
Containing  480  pages,  with  Six 
Full-page  Coloured  Plates,  and 
numerous  other  Illustrations. 
Picture  boards,  3s.  6d.  Cloth  gilt, 
gilt  edges,  5s.  each. 

Little  Folks  Fairy  Book,  The. 
With  Coloured  Frontispiece  and 
numerous  Illustrations.     3s.  6d. 

Merry  Hours.  With  2  Coloured 
Plates  and  Numerous  Illustrations, 
is. 

Our  Pictures.  With  2  Coloured  Plates 
and  Numerous  Illustrations,     is. 

"Tiny  Tots"  Annual  Volume. 
Boards,  is.  4d.  ;  cloth,  is.  6d. 

Tiny  Tales.    With  2  Coloured  Plates 

and  numerous  Illustrations,     is. 
MONSELL  (J.  R.)  — 

Funny    Foreigners.      Illus. rated. 

6d.  net 

Surprising  Strangers.  Illustrated. 

6d.  net. 

Notable      Nations.       Illustrated. 

6d.  net. 


CASSELL  &  COMPANY,  Limited,  La  Belle  Sauvagt,  Ludgate  Hill,  London. 


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